137  MISSOURI  (The)  "Bushwhacker"  (Civil  War). 
Autobiography  of  Sarnuel  S.  Hildebrand,  the 
Renowned  Missouri  "Bushwhacker"  and  Un 
conquerable  Rob  Roy  of  America  ;  being  his  com 
plete  confession  recently  made  to  the  writers  and 
carefully  compiled.  By  J.  W.  Evans  and  Dr. 
Q.  W.  Keith,  of  St.  Francois  Co.,  Mo.;  together 
with  all  the  facts  connected  with  his  early  his 
tory  .  12mo,  with  eight  woodcut  illustrations, 

Jefferson  City,  Mo.,  1870,  pp.  312 4Htt>- 

*  An  extremely  rare  Missouri  and  Civil  War 
item .  First  issue,  a  record  of  bloody  deeds, 
dare-devil  exploits  and  thrilling  adventures  min 
utely  and  accurately  told  ;  includes  the  night 
historv  of  this  audacious  bandit. 


' 


PROOF  OF  AUTHENTICITY. 


This  is  to  certify  that  I,  the  undersigned,  am  personally  ac 
quainted  with  Samuel  S.  Hildebrand  (better  known  as  "Sam 
I-Iildebrand,  the  Missouri  Bushwhacker,"  etc.,)  and  have  known 
him  from  boyhood ;  that  during'  the  wTar,  and  on  several  occa 
sions  since  its  termination,  he  promised  to  give  me  a  full  and 
complete  history  of  his  whole  war  record  ;  that  on  the  night  of 
January  28th,  1870,  he  canie  to  my  house  at  Big  River  Mills,  in 
St.  Francois  county,  Missouri,  in  company  with  Charles  Burks, 
and  gave  his  consent  that  I  and  Charles  Burks,  in  conjunction, 
might  have  his  confession  whenever  we  were  prepared  to  meet 
him  at  a  certain  place  for  that  purpose  ;  that  in  the  latter  part 
of  March,  1870,  in  the  presence  of  Sam  Hildebrand  alone,  I  did 
write  out  his  confession  as  he  gave  it  to  me,  then  and  there, 
•until  the  same  was  completed ;  and  that  afterwards  James  W. 
Evans  and  myself,  from  the  material  I  thus  obtained,  compiled 
and  completed  the  said  confession,  which  is  now  presented  to  the 
public  as  his  Autobiography. 

A.  WENDELL  KEITH,  M.  D. 

3 


STATE  OF  MISSOURI, 

COUNTY  OF  STE.  GENEVIEVE. 

On  this,  14th  day  of  June,  1870,  before  me,  Henry  Herter,  a 
Notary  Public  within  and  for  said  county,  personally  Appeared 
W.  II.  Couzens,  J.  N.  Burks  and  G.  W.  Murphy  of  the  above 
county  and  State,  and  on  being  duly  sworn  they  stated  that  they 
w.ere  well  acquainted  with  Charles  Burks  of  the  aforesaid  county, 
and  A.  Wendell  Keith,  M.  D.,  of  St.  Francois  county,  Missouri, 
.and  to  their  certain  knowledge  the  facts  set  forth  in  the  foregoing 
1 


PKOOF   OF   AUTHENTIC, TY. 

certificate  are  true  and  correct,  and  that  Samuel  S.  Hildebrand 
also  acknowledged  to  them  afterwards  that  he  had  made  to  them 
his  complete  confession. 

WM.  H.  COUZENS,  MAJOR  C.  S.  A., 

J.  N.  BURKS, 

G,  W.  MURPHY. 
Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  this  14th  day  of  June, 

1870. 

HENRY  HERTER, 

Notary  Public. 

The  Statement  made  by  A.  Wendell  Keith,  M.  D.,  is  entitled 
to  credit  from  the  fact  of  his  well-known  veracity  and  standing 

in  society. 

HON.  ELLIS  G.  EVANS, 

Senator,  Rolla  District. 
HON.  E.  C.  SEBASTIAN, 

Representative,  St.  Francois  comity. 
HON.  MILTON  P.  CAYCE, 

Farmington,  Missouri. 
FRANKLIN  MURPHY, 

Sheriff  St.  Francois  county. 
WILLIAM  R.  TAYLOR, 

Clerk  St.  Francois  county. 
HON.  JOSEPH  BOGY, 

Representative  Ste.  Genevieve  county. 
CHARLES  ROZIER, 

Clerk  Ste.  Genevieve  county. 


EXECUTIVE  OFFICE,  JEFFERSON  CITY,  Mo.,  \ 
June  22, 1870.  / 

I  hereby  certify  that  the  persons  whose  official  signatures 
appear  above  have  been  commissioned  for  the  offices  indicated ; 
and  my  personal  acquaintance  with  Dr.  Keith,  Honorables  Evans, 
Sebastian,  Cayce,  Bogy  and  Sheriff  Murphy  is  such  that  I  say 
without  hesitation.their  statements  are  entitled  to  full  faith  and 

credit.  * 

J.  W.  McCLURG, 

Governor  of  Missouri. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


OF 

SAMUEL  S.  HILDEBRAND, 

it 

THE   RENOWNED 

MISSOURI  "BUSHWHACKER" 

AND  UNCONQUERABLE 

ROBROYOF  AMERICA; 

BEING 

HIS  COMPLETE  CONFESSION 

RECENTLY  MADE  TO  THE  WRITERS,  AND  CAREFULLY  COMPILED 

BY  JAMES  W.  EVANS  AND  A.  WENDELL  KEITH,  M.  D., 

OF  ST.  FRANCOIS  COUNTY,  MO.; 
TOGETHER 

WITH    ALL    THE    FACTS    CONNECTED   WITH    HIS 
EARLY    HISTORY. 


JEFFERSON  CITY,  MO.: 

STATE  TIMES  BOOK  AND  JOB  PRINTING  HOUSE, 

MADISON    STREET. 
1870. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


SAM  HILDEBRAND  DRIVEN  FROM  HOME Frontispiece. 

FRANK  HILDEBRAND  HUNG  BY  THE  MOB 45 

SAM  HILDEBRAND  KILLING  MC!LVAINE 61 

THE  MURDER  OF  WASH.  HILDEBRAND  AND  LANDUSKY 69 

STAMPEDE  OF  FEDERAL  SOLDIERS 139 

SAM  HILDEBRAND  BETRAYED  BY  COOTS 179 

SAM  HILDEBRAND'S  LAST  BATTLE 297 

Coi.  BOWEN  CAPTURES  HILDEBRAND'S  CAVE...,  ..  303 


Entered  according  to  act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1870,  by 
JAMES  W.  EVANS  and  A.  WENDELL  KEITH,  M.  D.,  in  the  Clerk's 
Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Eastern 
District  of  Missouri. 


E  >t 

l-U* 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Introduction. — Yankee  fiction. — Reasons  for  making  a  full  con 
fession 25 

CHAPTER  II. 

Early  history  of  the  Hildebrand  family.— Their  settlement  in  St. 
Francois  comity,  Mo. — Sam  Hildebrand  born. — Troublesome 
neighbors. — Union  sentiments 29 

CHAPTER  III. 

Determination  to  take  no  part  in  the  war. — Mr.  Ringer  killed  by 
Rebels. — The  cunning  device  of  Allen  Roan. — Vigilance 
Committee  organized. — The  baseness  of  Mobocracy. — At 
tacked  by  the  mob. — Escape  to  Flat  "Woods 35 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Mcllvaine's  Vigilance  mob. — Treachery  of  Castleman. — Frank 
Hildebrand  hung  by  the  mob. — Organization  of  the  mob  into 

a  Militia  company 42 

CHAPTER  V. 

His  house  at  Flat  Woods  attacked  by  eighty  soldiers. — Miracu 
lous  escape. — Capt.  Bolin. — Flight  to  Green  county,  Arkan 
sas 48 

CHAPTER  VI. 

interview  with  Gen.  Jeff  Thompson. — Receives  a  Major's  Com 
mission. — Interview  with  Capt.  Bolin.— Joins  the  Bush 
whacking  Department 54 

CHAPTER  VH. 

First  trip  to  Missouri. — Killed  George  Cornecious  for  reporting 
him. — Killed  Firman  Mcllvaine,  captain  of  the  mob. — At 
tempt  to  kill  McGahan  and  House. — Return  to  Arkansas.  58 

CHAPTER  VHI. 

Vigilance  mob  drives  his  mother  from  home. — Three  companies 
of  troops  sent  to  Big  river. — Capt.  Flanche  murders  Wash 
ington  Hildebrand  and  Landusky. — Capt.  Esroger  murders 
John  Roan. — Capt.  Adolph  burns  the  Hildebrand  homestead 
and  murders  Henry  Hildebrand ..£...  66 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Trip  with  Burlap  and  Cato. — Killed  a  spy  near  Bloomfield. — 
Visits  his  mother  on  Dry  Creek. — Interview  with  his  uncle. 
— Sees  the  burning  of  the  homestead  at  a  distance 75 

CHAPTER  X. 

Trip  with  two  men. — Killed  Stokes  for  informing  on  him. — Se 
creted  in  a  cave  on  Big  river. — Vows  of  vengeance. — Watched 
for  McGahan. — Tom  Haile  pleads  for  Franklin  Murphy. — 
Tongue-lashed  and  whipped  out  by.  a  woman 84 


M669015 


8  CONTENTS. 

•CHAPTER  XL 

Trip  to  Missouri  with  three  men. — Fight  near  Fredericktown. — 
Killed  four  soldiers. — Went  to  their  camp  and  stole  four  horses. 
—Flight  toward  the  South.— Robbed  "  Old  Crusty  " 01 

'  CHAPTER  XII. 

Trip  with  three  men. — Captured  a  spy  and  shot  him. — Shot  Mr. 
Scaggs. — Charged  a  Federal  camp  at  night  and  killed  nine 
men".— Came  near  shooting  James  Craig. — Robbed  Bean's 
store  and  returned  to  Arkansas 96 

CHAPTER  XHI. 

The  Militia  mob  robs  the  Hildebrand  estate. — Trip  to  Missouri 
with  ten  men. — Attacks  a  government  train  with  an  escort  of 

twenty  men. — Killed  two  and  put  the  others  to  flight 102 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Federal  cruelty. — A  defense  of  Bushwhacking. — Trip  with  Capt.. 
Bolin  and  nine  men. — Fight  at  West  Prairie.— Started  with 
two  men  to  St.  Francois  county. — Killed  a  Federal  soldier. — 
Killed  Addison  Cunningham. — Capt.  Walker  kills  Capt. 

Barnes,  and  Hildebrand  kills  Capt.  Walker 10G 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Started  alone  to  Missouri. — Rode  off  a  bluff  and  killed  his  horse. 
— Fell  in  with  twenty-live  Rebels  under  Lieut.  Childs. — 
Went  with  them.— Attacked  150  Federals  at  Bellinger's  Mill. 
Henry  Resingor  killed. — William  Cato. — Went  back  to  Fred 
ericktown. — Killed  one  man. — Robbed  Abright's  store...  114 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Started  to  Bloomfield  with  three  men. — Fi^ht  at  St.  Francis  river. 
— Goes  from  there  alone. — Meets  his  wife  and  family,  who  had 
been  ordered  oft'  from  Bloomfield. — Capture  and  release  of 
Mrs.  Hildebrand. — Fight  in  Stoddard  county. — Arrival  in 

Arkansas 121 

CHAPTER  XVH. 

Put  in  a  crop. — Took  another  trip  to  Missouri  with  six  men. — 
Surrounded  in  a  tobacco  barn. — Killed  two  men  in  making  his 
escape. — Killed  Wammack  for  informing  on  him. — Captured 
some  Federals  and  released  them  on  certain  conditions. — 
Went  to  Big  River  Mills. — Robbed  Highley's  and  Bean's 

stores 128 

%  CHAPTER  XVHI. 

Selected  seven  men  and  went  to  Negro  Wool  Swamp. — Attacked 
fifteen  Federals — A  running  fight. — Killed  three  men. — 
Killed  Mr.  Crane. — Betrayed  by  a  Dutchman,  and  surrounded 
in  a  house  by  Federals.— Escaped,  killed  eight  Federals,  re 
captured  #ie  horses,  and  hung  the  Dutchman 136 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Went  with  eight  men. — Attacked  a  Federal  camp  near  Bellinger's 
Mill.— Got  defeated. — Men.  returned  to  Arkansas. — Went 
alone  to  St.  Francois  county. — Watched  for  R.  M.  Cole. — 

Killed  Capt.  Hicks 147 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Trip  to  Hamburg  with  fifteen  men. — Hung  a  Dutchman  and  shot 
another. — Attacked  some- Federals  in  Hamburg  but  got  glo- 


CONTENTS. 

riously  whipped. — Retreated  to  Coon  Jsland. — Killed  Oiler  at 
Flat  Woods.— Robbed  Bean's  store  at  irondale..: 153 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

Started  with  six  men  on  a  trip  to  Springfield,  Missouri. — "De 
ceived  by  a  Federal  spV  in  the  Irish  Wilderness — Captured 
through  mistake  by  Rebels. — Routed  on  Panther  creek. — 
Returned  home  on  foot 159 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

Started  with  four  men. — Surrounded  in  a  thicket  near  Frederick- 
town. — Escaped  with  the  loss  of  three  horses. — Stole  horses 
from  the  Federals  at  night. — Killed  two  soldiers. — Suffered 
from  hunger. — Killed  Fowler. — Took  a  horse  from  G.  W. 
Murphy. — Went  to  Mingo  Swamp. — Killed  Coots  for  betray 
ing  him. — Killed  a  Federal  and  lost  two  men 1G8 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Went  to  Mingo  Swamp  with  ten  men. — Went  to  Castor  creek. — 
Attacked  two  companies  of  Federals  under  Capt.  Cawhorn 
and  Capt.  Rhoder. — Bushwhacked  them  seven  nights. — 
Went  with  Capt.  Reed's  men. — Attacked  Capt.  Leepcr's 
company. — Killed  fourteen,  captured  forty  horses,  forty-four 
guns,  sixty  pistols,  and  everything  else  they  had 182 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Took  a  trip  with  fifteen  men. — Captured  a  squad  of  Federals. — 
Reception  of  "  Uncle  Bill." — Hung  all  the  prisoners. — Cap 
tured  live  more  and  hung  one 187 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

Put  in  a  crop. — Started  to  Missouri  with  nine  men. — Killed  a  sol 
dier  near  Dallas. — Went  to  St.  Francois  county  and  watched 
for  Walls  and  Baker. — Watched  near  Big  River  Mills  for  Mc- 
Gahan. — Narrow  escape  of  William  Sharp. — Robbed  Burges, 
Hughes  and  Kelley  of  their  horses. — Robbed  Abright's  store. 
— Captured  some  Federals  on  White  Water 195 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

Started  to  St.  Francois  county,  Missouri,  with  eight  men. — Hung 
Vogus  and  Zinimer. — Hung  George  Hart. — Robbed  Lepp's 
store. — Concealed  in  Pike  Run  hills. — Started  back. — Hung 
Mr.  Mett's  negro,  "Old  Isaac." — Hung  another  negro.—. 
Took  two  deserters  back  and  hung  them 205 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Started  with  nine  men  to  St.  Francois  county. — Stopped  in  Pike 
Run  hills.— Robbed  the  store  of  Christopher  Lepp. — llimg 
Mr.  Kinder's  negro. — Attacked  by  Federals. — Killed  two  men 
and  lost  one. — Shot  two  soldiers  on  a  furlough. — Enters  a 
mysterious  camp .",.,. 212 

CHAPTER  XXVIH. 

3apt.  John  and  a  company  of  Federals  destroy  the  Bushwhack 
ers'  Headquarters  in  Green  county,  Arkansas.— He  is  bush 
whacked,  routed  and  killed.— Raid  into  Washington  county 
with  fourteen  men.— Attacked  by  twenty  Federals.— Killed 
the  man  who  piloted  Capt.  John 219 


10  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Took  a  raid  into  Missouri  with  four  men. — Killed  a  Federal. — 
Killed  two  of  Capt.  Milks'  men. — Started  toDeSoto. — Routed 
by  the  Federals. — Adventure  with  a  German. — Killed  three 
Federals  on  Black  river 228 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

Commanded  the  advance  guard  on  Price's  raid. — The  Federals 
burn  Doniphan. — Routed  the  Federals  completely. — Cap 
tured  several  at  Patterson. — Killed  Abright  at  Farmington. 
— Left  Price's  army. — Killed  four  Federals. — Major  Mont 
gomery  storms  Big  River  Mills. — Xarrow  escape  from  cap 
ture 237 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

Selected  three  men  and  went  to  Missouri  to  avenge  the  death  of 
Rev.  William  Polk. — Got  ammunition  in  Fredericktown. — 
Killed  the  German  who  informed  on  Polk. — Return  to  Ar 
kansas 244 

CHAPTER  XXXH. 

Started  with  eight  men  on  a  trip  to  Arkansas  river. — Hung  a 
"Scallawag"  on  White  river. — Went  into  Conway  county. — 
Treachery  of  a  negro  on  Point  Remove. — "Foot-burning" 
atrocities. — Started  back  and  hung  a  renegade 250 

CHAPTER.  XXXIII. 

Gloomy  prospects  for  the  South. — Takes  a  trip  to  Missouri  with 
four  men. — Saved  from  capture  by  a  woman. — Visits  his 
mother  on  Big  river. — Robs  the  store  of  J.  V.  Tyler  at  Big 

River  Mills— Escapes  to  Arkansas ". 257 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

Started  to  Missouri  with  three  men. — Surrounded  at  night  near 
Fredericktown. — Narrow  escape  by  a  cunning  device. — Re 
tired  to  Simms'  Mountain. — Swapped  horses  with  Robert 
Hill,  and  captured  some  more. — Killed  Free  Jim  and  kid 
napped  a  negro  boy 264 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

Trip  to  Missouri  with  four  men. — Attempt  to  rob  Taylor's  store. 
— Fight  with  Lieut.  Brown  and  his  soldiers. — Killed  Miller 
and  Johnson  at  Flat  Woods. — Return  home  from  his  last 
raid. — The  war  is  pronounced  to  be  at  an  end. — Reflections 
on  the  termination  of  the  war. — Mrs.  Hildebrand's  advice. — 

The  parole  at  Jacksonport 275 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

Imprisoned  in  Jacksonport  jail. — Mrs.  Hildebrand  returns  to 
Missouri. — Escape  from  prison. — Final  settlement  in  Ste. 
Genevieve  county.— St.  Louis  detectives  make  their  first  trip. 
— The  Governor's  reward. — Wounded  by  Peterson. — Re 
moved  to  his  uncle's. — Fight  at  John  Williams'. — Kills  James 

McLaine. — Hides  in  a  cave 286 

CHAPTER  XXXVH. 

Military  operations  for  his  capture. — Col.  Bowen  captures  the 
Cave. — Progress  of  the  campaign. — Advent  of  Governor 
McClurg. — The  Militia  called  put.— Don  Quixote  affair  at  the 
Brick  Church. — The  campaign  ended. — Mrs.  Hildebrand 
escapes  to  Illinois. — "Sam"  leaves  Missouri. — His  final  pro 
clamation 300 


PREFACE. 


The  public  having  been  grossly  imposed  upon  by 
several  spurious  productions  purporting  to  be  the 
"  Life  of  Sam  Hildebrand,"  we  have  no  apology  to 
offer  for  presenting  the  reader  with  his  authentic 
narrative. 

His  confession  was  faithfully  written  down  from 
his  own  lips,  as  the  foregoing  certificates  abundantly 
prove. 

From  this  copious  manuscript  we  have  prepared 
his  autobiography  for  the  press,  with  a  scrupulous 
care  to  give  it  literally,  so  far  as  the  arbitrary  rules 
of  language  would  permit.  Sam  Hildebrand  and 
the  authors  of  this  work  were  raised  up  from  boy 
hood  together,  in  the  same  neighborhood,  and  we 
are  confident  that  no  material  facts  have  been  sup 
pressed  by  Hildebrand  in  his  confession. 

The  whole  narrative  is  given  to  the  reader  with 
out  any  effort  upon  our  part  either  to  justify  or  con 
demn  his  acts.  Our  design  was  to  give  the  genuine 
autobiography  of  Sam  Hildebrand;  this  we  have 
done. 

The  book,  as  a  record  of  bloody  deeds,  dare-devil 
exploits  and  thrilling  adventures,  will  have  no  rival 
jn  the  catalogue  of  wonders ;  for  it  at  once  unfolds, 

n 


12  PREFACE. 

with  minute  accuracy,  the  exploits  of  Hildebrand, 
of  which  one-half  had  never  yet  been  told.  With 
out  this  record  the  world  would  forever  remain  in 
ignorance  of  the  night  history  of  his  astounding 
audacity. 

We  here  tender  our  thanks  to"  those  of  our  friends 
who  have  kindly  assisted  us  in  this  work,  prominent 
among  whom  is  Miss  Hilda  F.  Sharp,  of  Jefferson 
City,  Mo.,  who  furnished  us  with  those  beautiful  pen 
cil  sketches  from  which  our  engravings  were  made. 
JAMES  W.  EYANS, 
A.  WENDELL  KEITH,  M.  D. 

BIG  EIVER  MILLS,  Mo.,  June,  1870. 


INTRODUCTION. 


'LEE  OKIGIX   AND   HISTORY  OP  THE  HILDE 
BRAND  FAMILY. 


Before  proceeding  with  the  Autobiography  of  Sam 
uel  S.  Hildebrand,  we  would  call  the  attention  of  the 
reader  to  the  fact,  that  since  notoriety  has  been  thrust 
upon  the  subject  of  these  memoirs,  public  attention  has 
been  pointed  to  the  fact,  that  in  German  history,  the 
Hildebrands  occupy  a  very  prominent  position. 

The  authors  of  this  work,  by  a  diligent  research  into 
ancient  German  literature,  have  been  able  to  trace  the 
origin'  and  history  of  the  Hildebrand  family,  with  tol 
erable  accuracy,  to  the  beginning  of  the  ninth  century. 
The  name  Hildebrand  or  Hildebrandt  is  as  old  as  the 
German  language.  Hilde,  in  ancient  German,  signified 
a  "  Hero,"  and  brand,  a  "blaze  or  flame."  It  is  thought 
by  some  writers  that  the  name  doubtless  signified  a 


"flaming  hero/' 


13 


14  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

Whether  this  is  the  case  or  not,  it  matters  but  little, 
as  the  fact  remains  clearly  defined  that  the  first  man  of 
that  name  known  to  history  was  a  hero  in  every  sense 
of  the  word.  The  "  Ileldenbuch  "  or  Book  of  Heroes, 
in  its  original  form,  dates  back  to  the  eighth  century. 
It  is  a  beautiful  collection  of  poems  relative  to  Dietrich 
or  Theodoric.  It  was  written  down  from  memory  by 
the  Hessian  monks  on  the  outer  pages  of  an  old  Latin 
manuscript,  and  was  first  published  by  Eccard  in  prose, 
but  it  was  afterwards  discovered  that  the  songs  were 
originally  in  rhyme. 

The  poem  treats  of  the  expulsion  of  Dietrich  of  Vaum 
out  of  his  dominions  by  Ermenrick,  his  escape  to  Attila 
and  his  return  after  an  adventurous  exile  of  thirty 
years.  Hildebrand  (the  old  Dietrich)  encounters  his 
son,  whom  he  left  at  home  in  his  flight,  in  a  terrible 
encounter  without  knowing  who  he  was.  We  will  pre 
sent  the  reader  with  Das  Ilildebrandslied  (The  song  of 
Hildebrand),  not  on  account  of  any  literary  merit  it 
may  possess,  but  because  of  its  great  antiquity  and  its 
popularity  among  the  German  people  at  one  time,  and 
by  whom  it  was  dramatized, 


SAMUEL   S.   HILDEBEAND.  15 


of      ildebrand. 


"  I  must  be  up  and  riding,"  spoke  Master  Hildebrand, 
,'  'Tis  long  since  I  have  greeted  the  distant  Berner  land ; 
For  many  a  pleasant  summer  in  foreign  lands  we've  been, 
But  thirty  years  have  vanished  since  I  my  wife  have  seen." 

"Wilt  thoti  be  up  and  riding?"  outspoke  puke  Amelung; 
"  Beware  !  since  one  should  meet  thee — a  rider  brave  and  young. 
Right  by  the  Berner  market — the  brave  Sir  Alebrand ; 
If  twelve  men's  strength  were  in  thee,  he'd  throw  thee  to  the 
sand!" 

"And  doth  he  scorn  the  country  in  such  a  haughty  mood  ? 
I'll  cleave  in  twain  his  buckler — 'twill  do  him  little  good ; 
I'll  cleave  in  twain  his  armor  with  a  resistless  blow, 
Which  for  a  long  year  after  shall  cause  his  mother  woe." 

Outspoke  of  Bern,  Sir  Dietrich,  "  now  let  that  counsel  be, 
And  slay  him  not,  old  hero,  but  take  advice  from  me : 
Speak  gently  to  the  Hitter,  a  kind  word  soonest  mends  ; 
And  let  your  path  be  peaceful,  so  shall  ye  both  be  friends ! " 

And  as  he  reached  the  garden,  right  by  the  mart  of  Berne ; 
There  came  against  him  riding,  a  warrior  fierce  and  stern. 
A  brave  young  knight  in  armor,  against  Sir  Hildebrand ; 
"  What  seekest  thou,  old  Ritter,  in  this,  thy  father's  land?" 

"Thou  bearcst  splendid  armor,  like  one  of  royal  kind  ; 

So  bright  thy  glit'ering  corselet,  mine  eyes  are  stricken  blind  ; 

Thou,  who  at  home  should'st  rest  thee,  and  shun  a  warrior's 

stroke, 

And  slumber  by  the  fireside,"  the  old  man  laughed  and  spoke. 

U 


16  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

"  Should  I  at  firesides  rest  me,  and  nurse  me  well  at  home  ^ 
Full  many  a  fight  a  waits  me,  to  many  a  field  I'll  come. 
In  many  u  rattling  foray,  shall  I  be  known  and  feared; 
Believe  my  word,  thou  youngster,  'twas  thus  I  blanched  my 
beard." 

"That  beard  will  I  tear  from  thee,  though  great  may  be  thy  pain. 
Until  the  blood-drops  trickling,  have  sprinkled  all  the  plain ; 
Thy  fair  green  shield  and  armor,  must  thou  resign  to  me, 
Then  seek  the  town,  contented  my  prisoner  to  be. 

"My  armor  and  my  fair  green  shield  have  warded  many  a  blow; 
I  tmst  that  God  in  Heaven  still  will  guard  me  from  my  foe." 
No  more  they  spoke  together,  but  grasped  their  weapons  keen, 
And  what  the  two  most  longed  for,  soon  came  to  pass,  I  ween  ! 

With  glittering  sword,  the  younger  struck  such  a  sudden  blow, 
That  with  its  torce  the  warrior,  Sir  Hildebvaml,  bent  low  ; 
The  youth  in  haste  recoiling,  sprang  twelve  good  steps  behind, 
44 Such  leaps,"  exclaimed  the  gray-beard,  "were  learned  of 
womankind." 

4'  Had  I  learned  ought  of  woman,  it  were  to  me  a  shame, 
Within  my  father's  castle  are  many  knights  of  fame  ; 
Full  many  knights  and  riders  about  my  father  throng, 
And  what  as  yet,  I  know  not,  I  trust  to  learn  ere  long. 

Sir  Hildebrand  was  cunning,  the  old  gray  bearded  man, 
For  when  the  youth  uplifted,  beneath  Ids  sword  he  ran ; 
Around  the  Hitter's  girdle  his  arms  he  tightly  bound, 
And  on  the  ground  he  cast  him — there  lies  he  on  the  ground ! 

"Who  rubs  against  the  kittles,  may  spotless  keep  who  can — 
How  fares  it  now,  young  hero,  against  the  old  gray  man  ? 
Now  quickly  speak  and  shrive  thec,  for  I  thy  priest  will  be  ; 
Say,  art  thou  a  young  Wolfing?  perhaps  I'll  let  thee  free." 

4 'Like  wolves  are  all  the  Wolfing,  they  ran  wild  in  the  wood, 
But  I'm  a  Grecian  warrior,  a  rider  brave  and  good ; 


SAMUEL    S.    HILDEBRAND.  Li 

Frau  Ute  is  my  mother,  she  dwelleth  near  this  spot, 
And  Hildebrand.  my  father,  albeit  he  knows  us  not!"' 

"Is  Ute  then  thy  mother,  that  monarch's  daughter  free? 
Seekest  thou  thy  father,  Hildebrand?  then  know  that  /am  he  !" 
Uplifted  he  his  golden  helm,  and  kissed  him  on  the  mouth ; 
Now  God  be  praised  that  both  are  safe !  the  old  man  and  the 
youth. 

"Oh,  father  dear,    those  bloody  wounds!"  'twas   thus  the 

young  knight  said : 
"  Now  would  I  three  times  rather  bear  those  blows  upon  iny 

head." 
"Be  still,  bte  still,  my  own  dear  son!  the  wounds  will  soon  be 

past ; 
And  God  in  Heaven  above  be  praised,  that  we  have  met  at  last !" 

This  lasted  from  the  noonday  well  to  the  vesper  tide, 
Then  back  into  the  city  Sir  Alebraiicl  did  ride. 
What  bears  he  on  his  helmet?  a  little  cross  of  gold ; 
Who  is  he  that  rides  beside  him  ?  his  own  dear  father  old. 

And  with  him  to  his  castle,  old  Hildebrand  he  bore,          (sore — 
And  with  his  own  hands  served  him — the  mother  grieved  full 
"Ah,  son,  my  ever  dearest  son,  the  cause  I  fain  would  know, 
Why  a  strange  prisoner,  like  this,  should  e'er  be  honored  so?" 

"Xow,  silence,  clearest  mother,  and  list  to  what  I  say  ! 
He  almost  slew  me  on  the  heath  in  open  light  to-day  ; 
He  ne'er  shall  wear,  good  mother,  a  prisoner's  attire  , 
'Tis  Hildebrand,  the  valient,  thy  husband  and  my  sire  ! 

Oh,  mother,  dearest  mother,  do  him  all  honor  now  ;  " 
Then  flew  she  to  her  husband,  and  served  him  well,  I  trow ; 
What  holds  the  brave  old  father  ?  a  glittering  ring  of  gold ; 
He  drops  it  in  the  wine  cup — it  is  her  husband  old ! 


18  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

"We  congratulate  our  readers  on  having  survived  the 
reading  of  the  above  poem,  written  a  thousand  years 
ago,  about  old  Dietrich,  the  "father  Abraham"  of  all 
the  Hildebrands ;  but  he  must  not  forget  that  he  is 
subject  to  a  relapse,  for  here  are  two  verses  not  taken 
from  the  "Book  of  Heroes/'  but  from  an  old  popular 
song  in  use  to  this  day  among  the  peasantry  in  South 
Germany : 


|pildebrand  and  his  son  Jjtudebrand, 

Hildebrand  and  his  son  Hudebrand — Alebrand, 

Kode  off  together  with  sword  in  hand — sword  in  hand  • 

To  make  fierce  war  on  Venice ; 
Hildebrand  and  his  son  Hudebrand — Alebrand, 
Never  could  find  the  Venetian  land — 'netian  land . 

With  flaming  swords  to  menace ! 

Hildebrand  and  his  son  Hudebrand — Alebrand, 
Got  drunk  as  pigs  with  a  jolly  band— jolly  band, 

All  the  while  swearing  and  bawling ; 
Hildebrand  and  his  son  Hudebrand — Alebrand, 
Drank  till  they  could  neither  walk  nor  stand — walk  nor  stand, 

Home  on  all  fours  they  went  a  crawling. 

The  reader  will  perceive  that  the  peasantry  are  dis 
posed  to  "poke  fun"  at  the  great  ancestor  of  the 
Hildebrand  family ;  this,  however,  we  will  attribute  to 
envy,  and  make  no  effort  to  prove  that  "Hildebrand 
and  his  son  Hudebrand"  were  Good  Templars,  lest 
we  prove  too  much,  and  cause  the  reader  to  doubt  their 
Dutch  origin  altogether. 


SAMUEL  S.    HILDEBRAND.  19 

Following  the  geneology  down,  we  meet  with  several 
of  the  Hildebrands  celebrated  in  the  ecclesiastical, 
literary  and  scientific  world.  Of  the  parentage  of 
Gregory  YII.  but  little  is  known  more  than  that  he 
was  a  Hildebrand,  born  near  Rome,  but  of  German 
parents.  On  becoming  a  Eoman  Pontiff  in  1077,  he 
assumed  the  name  of  Gregory.  He  occupied  the  chair 
of  St.  Peter  for  eight  years,  during  which  time  he 
assumed  an  authority  over  the  crowned  heads  of  Eu 
rope,  never  before  attempted.  He  was  a  bold  man, 
but  was  driven  from  his  chair  in  1085. 

George  Frederick  Hildebrand  was  a  famous  physic 
ian,  who  was  born  June  5,  1764,  at  Hanover.  He  was 
one  of  the  most  learned  men  of  his  age  ;  was  appointed 
professor  of  Anatomy  at  Brunswick,  but  he  soon  took 
the  chair  of  Chemistry,  at  Erlangen,  in  Bavaria.  He 
died  March  23,  1816,  leaving  some  of  the  most  elabor 
ate  and  valuable  works  ever  written. 

Ferdinand  Theodore  Hildebrand  was  born  Juno  2, 
1804,  and  under  the  tuition  of  Professor  Schadaw,  at 
Berlin,  he  became  very  renowned  as  a  painter.  He 
followed  his  tutor  to  Dusseklorf  in  1826,  and  was  one 
of  the  most  celebrated  artists  of  the  Academy  of  Paint 
ing  at  that  place.  In  1830  Hildebrand  visited  Italy  to 
view  the  productions  of  some  of  the  old  masters,  and 
afterwards  traveled  through  the  Netherlands.  Some 
of  his  best  pictures  were  drawn  to  represent  scenes  in 
the  works  of  Shakspeare,  of  which  "King  Lear  mourn 
ing  over  the  death  of  Cordelia,"  was  perhaps  the  most 
important.  But  among  the  critics,  "  The  sons  of  Ed 
ward"  was  considered  hi^  greatest  production. 


20  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  name  all  the  illustrious  Ilil- 
debrands  who  have  figured  in  German  history  or  litera 
ture  ;  for  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  from  the  ninth 
century  down  to  the  sixteenth,  the  name  Hildebrand 
was  almost  invariably  applied  as  a  given  name  ;  it  was 
not  until  that  century  that  it  appears  as  a  sur-name.  It 
is  a  fact,  however,  well  known  to  historians,  that  the 
same  given  name  is  frequently  retained  in  a  family,  and 
handed  down  from  one  generation  to  another  perhaps 
for  one  thousand  years. 

In  the  southern  part  of  Germany  the  name  Hilde 
brand  was  borne  by  a  certain  class  of  vassals,  but  in  the 
Northern  States  of  that  country,  there  were  families  of 
noble  birth  by  the  same  name.  The  record  of  those 
nobles  run  back  with  a  great  deal  of  certainty  to  a  very 
remote  period  of  German  history — beyond  which,  the 
dim  out-lines  of  tradition  alone  can  be  our  guide. 
This  tradition,  whether  entitled  to  credit  or  not,  traces 
the  geneology  of  the  Hildebrands  in  the  line  of  nobles 
up  to  Sir  Hildebrand,  the  exiled  hero  mentioned  in 
the  Book  of  Heroes. 

According  to  the  record  of  the  Hildebrand  family, 
as  given  by  Henry  Hildebrand  of  Jefferson  county, 
Missouri,  to  the  authors  of  this  work ;  the  seventh  gen 
eration  back  reaches  to  Peter  Hildebrand  of  Hanover. 
He  was  born  in  1655,  and  was  the  youngest  son  of  a 
nobleman.  His  father  having  died  while  Peter  was 
yet  a  boy,  he  was  educated  at  a  military  school,  and 
after  arriving  to  manhood  he  served  several  years  in 
the  army.  Returning  at  length,  he  was  vexed  at  the 
cold  reception  he  received  from  his  elder  brother,  who 


SAMUEL   S.    HILDBBRAND.  21 

now  inherited  the  estate  with  all  the  titles  of  nobility 
belonging  to  the  family.  He  resolved  to  emigrate  to 
the  wild  solitudes  of  America,  where  individual  worth 
and  courage  was  the  stepping  stone  to  honor  and  dis 
tinction. 

His  family  consisted  of  a  wife  and  three  children ; 
his  oldest  son,  Jacob,  was  born  in  1680 ;  when  he  was 
ten  years  of  age  the  whole  family  emigrated  to  New 
Amsterdam,  remained  three  years  and  then  settled  in 
the  northern  part  of  Pennsylvania,  where  he  died  a 
few  years  afterwards. 

Jacob  Hildebrand's  second  son,  Jacob,  was  born  in 
1705.  He  was  fond  of  adventure  and  joined  in  several 
exploring  expeditions  in  one  of  which  he  was  captured 
by  a  band  of  Miami  Indians,  and  only  escaped  by  plung 
ing  into  the  Ohio  river  and  concealing  himself  under  a 
drift  of  floating  logs.  His  feelings  of  hostility  against 
the  Indians  prompted  him  to  join  the  expedition  against 
them  under  Lieutenant  Ward,  who  erected  a  fort  at 
what  is  now  called  Pittsburg,  in  1754,  here  he  was  killed 
in  a  vain  attempt  to  hold  the  garrison  against  the 
French  and  Indians  under  Contrecoeur. 

His  third  son,  John  Hildebrand,  was  born  in  1733, 
and  at  the  death  of  his  father  was  twenty-one  years  of 
age.  Like  most  of  the  frontiermen  of  this  early  period, 
he  seemed  to  have  an  uncontrolable  love  of  adventure. 
His  most  ardent  desire  was  to  explore  the  great  valley 
of  the  Mississippi.  At  the  period  of  which  we  are  now 
speaking  (1754),  he  joined  James  M.  Bride  and  others 
and  passed  down  the  Ohio  river  in  a  canoe  ;  to  his  re- 
grot,  however,  the  company  only  reached  the  mouth  of 


22  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

the  Kentucky  river,  cut  their  Initials  in  the  barks  of 
trees,  and  then  returned.  In  1770  he  removed  to  Mis 
souri.  His  family  consisted  of  his  wife  and  two  boys — 
Peter  was  born  in  1758,  and  Jonathan  in  1762.  He 
built  a  flat-boat  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio,  and  taking  a 
bountiful  supply  of  provisions,  he  embarked  with  his 
family.  To  avoid  the  Indians  he  kept  as  far  from  each 
shore  as  possible,  and  never  landed  but  once  to  pass 
around  the  shoals.  On  reaching  the  Mississippi  he 
spent  more  than  a  week  in  ascending  that  river  to 
gain  a  proper  point  for  crossing.  He  landed  on  the 
western  side  at  Ste.  Genevieve. 

Viewing  the  country  there  as  being  rather  thickly 
settled,  he  moved  back  into  the  wilderness  about  forty 
miles  and  settled  on  Big  River  at  the  mouth  of  Saline 
creek.  He  was  the  first  settler  in  that  country  which 
was  afterwards  organized  as  Jefferson  county.  He 
opened  a  fine  farm  on  Saline  creek,  built  houses,  and 
considered  himself  permanently  located  in  that  wild 
country.  The  Indians  were  unfriendly,  and  their  hos 
tility  toward  white  settlers  seemed  to  increase  until 
1780,  when  Peter  Chouteau,  by  order  of  the  Lieutenant 
Governor  of  Louisiana,  went  to  see  Hildebrand  and 
warned  him  to  leave  on  account  of  Indian  depredations. 
He  then  removed  to  Ste.  Genevieve. 

In  1783,  Peter  Hildebrand  left  Ste.  Genevieve  and 
settled  on  "Big  River  in  the  same  neighborhood  where 
his  father  had  resided.  He  had  a  wife  and  four  child 
ren,  whose  names  were,  Isaac,  Abraham,  David,  and 
Betsy.  He  was  a  good  marksman  and  very  fond  of 
hunting.  After  he  had  resided  there  about  one  year, 


SAMUEL    S.    IIILDEBKAND.  23 

he  was  shot  find  killed  by  the  Indians  on  the  bank  of 
Big  River  one  morning  while  on  his  return  from  hunt 
ing  wild  game  ;  after  which  the  family  removed  nearer 
to  a  settlement. 

In  1802,  David  Hildebrand  settled  on  Big  River,  and 
about  the  same  time  Jonathan  Ilildebrand  settled  him 
self  permanently  on  the  same  river.  He  lived  until 
the  commencement  of  the  late  war,  and  then  died  at 
the  age  of  one  hundred  years.  He  had  three  sons, 
whose  names  are,  George,  Henry,  and  Samuel. 

In  1832,  George  Hildebrand  and  his  family  moved 
higher  up  on  Big  River  and  settled  in  St.  Francois 
county — his  house  was  the  Hildebrand  homestead  re 
ferred  to  in  these  pages — and  he  was  the  father  of 
Samuel  S.  Hildebrand,  whose  Autobiography  we  now 
submit  to  our  readers. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


OP 


SAMUEL  S.  HILDEBRAND. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Introduction.— Yankee  Fiction. — Reasons    for   making  a  full 
confession. 

Since  the  close  of  the  late  rebellion,  knowing  that 
I  had  taken  a  very  active  part  during  its  progress 
several  of  my  friends  have  solicited  ine  to  have  my 
history  written  out  in  full.  This  anxiety  to  obtain 
the  history  of  an  individual  so  humble  as  myself, 
may  be  attributed  to  the  fact,  that  never  perhaps 
since  the  world  began,  have  such  efforts  been  put  forth 
by  a  government  for  the  suppression  of  one  man  alone, 
as  have  been  used  for  my  capture,  both  during  the  war 
and  since  its  termination.  The  extensive  military 
operations  carried  on  by  the  Federal  government  in 
South-east  Missouri,  were  in  a  great  measure  designed 
for  my  special  destruction. 
2 


26  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

Since  the  close  of  the  rebellion,  while  others  -are 
permitted  to  remain  at  home  in  peace,  the  war,  with 
out  any  abatement  whatever,  has  continued  against  me 
with  a  vindictiveness  and  alavish  expenditure  of  money 
that  has  no  parallel  on  this  continent}  but  through  it 
all,  single-handed,  have  I  come  out  unscathed  and  un- 
conquered. 

My  enemies  have  thrust  notoriety  upon  me,  and  have 
excited  the  public  mind  at  a  distance  with  a  desire  to 
know  who  I  am  and  what  I  have  done.  Taking  ad 
vantage  of  this  popular  inquiry,  some  enterprising 
individual  in  an  eastern  state  has  issued  two  or  three 
novels  purporting  to  be  my  history,  but  they  arc  not 
even  founded  on  fact,  and  miss  the  mark  about  as  far 
as  if  they  were  designed  for  the  Life  of  Queen  Yic- 
toria.  I  seriously  object  to  the  use  of  my  name  in  any 
such  a  manner.  Any  writer,  of  course,  who  is  afflicted 
with  an  irresistible  desire  to  write  fiction,  has  a  perfect 
right  to  do  so,  but  he  should  select  a  fictitious  name  for 
the  hero  of  his  novels,  that  his  works  may  stand  or  fall, 
according  to  their  own  intrinsic  merit,  rather  than  the 
name  of  an  individual  whose  notoriety  alone  would 
insure  the  popularity  of  his  books.  But  an  attempt  to 
palm  a  novel  on  the  inquiring  public  as  a  history  of 
my  life,  containing  as  it  does  a  catalogue  of  criminal 
acts  unknown  to  me  in  all  my  career,  is  not  only  a 
slander  upon  myself,  but  a  glaring  fraud  upon  the 
public. 

Much  of  our  misfortune  as  a  nation  may  be  attributed 
to  the  pernicious  influence  of  the  intolerant,  intermed 
dling,  irrepressible  writers  of  falsehood.  In  a  com- 


SAMUEL    S.    11IMMOBKAND.  27 

munity  where  the  spirit  of  fiction  pervades  every  de 
partment  of  literature  and  all  the  social  relations  of 
life,  writers  become  so  habituated  to  false  coloring  and 
deception,  that  plain  unadorned  truth  has  seldom  been 
known  to  eminate  from  their  perverted  brains ;  it  would 
be  just  as  impossible  for  them  to  write  down  a  naked 
fact  as  it  would  for  the  Prince  of  Darkness  to  write  a 
volume  of  psalms. 

The  friend  who  has  finally  succeeded  in  tracing  me 
to  my  quiet  retreat  in  the  wild  solitudes  of  the  down 
trodden  South,  is  requesting  me  to  make  public  the 
whole  history  of  my  life,  without  any  attempt  at  pallia 
tion,  concealment  or  apology.  This  I  shall  now  pro 
ceed  to  do,  in  utter  disregard  to  a  perverted  public 
opinion,  and  without  the  least  desire  or  expectation  of 
receiving  justice  from  the  minds  of  those  who  never 
knew  justice,  or  sympathy  from  those  who  are  desti 
tute  of  that  ingredient. 

The  necessity  that  was  forced  upon  me  to  act  the 
part  I  did  during  the  reign  of  terror  in  Missouri,  is  all 
that  I  regret.  It  has  deprived  me  of  a  happy  home 
and  the  joys  of  domestic  peace  and  quietude;  it  has 
driven  me  from  the  associations  of  childhood,  and  all 
the  scenes  of  early  life  that  so  sweetly  cling  to  the 
memory  of  man ;  it  has  caused  my  kind  and  indulgent 
mother  to  go  down  into  her  grave  sorrowing;  it  has 
robbed  me  of  three  affectionate  brothers  who  were 
brutally  murdered  and  left  weltering  in  their  own  in 
nocent  blood ;  it  has  reduced  me  and  my  family  to 
absolute  want  and  suffering,  and  has  left  us  without  a 
home,  and  I  might  almost  say,  without  a  country. 


28  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

A  necessity  as  implacable  as  the  decrees  of  Fate, 
was  forced  upon  me  by  the  "Union  party  to  espouse  the 
opposite  side ;  and  all  the  horrors  of  a  merciless  war 
were  waged  unceasingly  against  mo  for  many  months 
before  I  attempted  to  raise  my  hand  in  self  defense. 
But  fight  I  must,  and  fight  1  did !  War  was  the  object, 
and  war  it  was.  I  never  engage  in  but  one  business  at 
a  time — my  business  during  the  war  was  killing  ene 
mies.  It  is  a  very  difficult  matter  to  carry  on  a  war 
for  four  years  without  some  one  getting  hurt.  If  I  did 
kill  over  a  hundred  men  daring  the  war,  it  was  only 
because  I  was  in  earnest  and  supposed  that  everybody 
else  was.  My  name  is  cast  out  as  evil  because  I  adopted 
the  military  tactics  not  in  use  among  large  armies. 
They  were  encumbered  with  artillery  and  fought 
where  they  had  ample  room  to  use  it,  I  had  no  artil 
lery  and  generally  fought  in  the  woods ;  my  plan  was 
the  most  successful,  for  in  the  regular  army  the  rebels 
did  not  kill  more  than  one  man  each  during  the  war. 


SAMUEL   S.    HILDEBRAND. 


CHAPTEE  II. 

Early  "History  of  the  Hildebrand  family. — Settled  in  St.  Fran 
cois  county,  Missouri. —  Sam  Hildebrand  born. — Trouble 
some  Neighbors. — Union  Sentiments. 

In  regard  to  the  early  history  of  the  Hildebrand 
family,  I  can  only  state  what  tradition  has  handed 
down  from  one  generation  to  another.  As  I  have  no 
education,  and  can  neither  read  in  English  nor  Dutch, 
I  am  not  able  to  give  any  of  the  outlines  of  history 
bearing  upon  the  origin  or  acts  of  the  Hildebrands  in 
remote  ages.  This  task  I  leave  for  others,  with  this 
remark,  that  tradition  connects  our  family  with  the 
Hildebrands  who  figured  in  the  German  history  up  to 
the  very  origin  of  the  Dutch  language.  The  branch 
of  the  family  to  which  I  belong  were  driven  from 
Bavaria  into  Netherlands  two  hundred  years  ago, 
where  they  remained  about  forty  years,  and  then  emi 
grated  to  Pennsylvania  at  the  first  settlement  of  that 
portion  of  America. 

They  were  a  hardy  race  of  people  and  always  shunned 
a  city  life,  or  being  cooped  up  in  thickly  settled  dis 
tricts  ;  they  kept  on  the  outskirts  of  aggressive  civi 
lization  as  it  pressed  the  redman  still  back  into  the 
wild  solitudes  of  the  West,  thus  occupying  the  middle 
ground  or  twilight  of  refinement.  Hence  they  con 
tinually  breathed  the  pure,  fresh  air  of  our  country's 
morning,  trod  through  the  dewy  vales  of  pioneer  life, 


80  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

and  drank  at  Freedom's  shady  fountains  among  the 
unclaimed  hills. 

They  were  literally  a  race  of  backwoodsmen  inured 
to  hardship,  and  delighted  in  nothing  so  much  as  wild 
adventure  and  personal  danger.  They  explored  the 
hills  rather  than  the  dull  pages  of  history,  pursued 
the  wild  deer  instead  of  tame  literature,  and  enjoyed 
their  own  thoughts  rather  than  the  dreamy  notions 
eminating  from  the  feverish  brain  of  philosophy. 

In  1832  my  father  and  mother,  George  and  Eebecca 
Hildebrand,  settled  in  St.  Francois  county,  Missouri, 
on  a  stream  called  Big  River,  one  of  the  tributaries  of 
the  Meramcc  which  empties  into  the  Mississippi  about 
twenty  miles  below  St.  Louis. 

The  bottom  lands  on  Big  River  are  remarkably  fer 
tile,  and  my  father  was  so  fortunate  as  to  secure  one  of 
the  best  bodies  of  land  in  that  county.  Timber  grew 
in  abundance,  both  on  the  hills  and  in  the  valleys,  con 
sequently  it  took  a  great  deal  of  hard  labor  to  open  a 
farm  ;  but  after  a  few  years  of  close  attention,  father, 
by  the  assistance  of  his  boys  who  were  growing  up, 
succeeded  in  opening  a  very  large  one.  He  built  a 
large  stone  dwelling  house  two  stories  high,  and  fin 
ished  it  off  in  beautiful  style,  besides  other  buildings — 
barns,  cribs  and  stables  necessary  on  every  well  regu 
lated  farm. 

Father  and  mother  raised  a  family  of  ten  children, 
consisting  of  seven  boys  and  three  girls.  I  was  the 
fifth  one  in  the  family,  and  was  born  at  the  old  home 
stead  on  Big  River,  St.  Francois  county,  Missouri,  on 
the  6th  day  of  January,  1836. 


SAMUEL    S.    HlLDKBKANU.  o 

The  facilities  for  acquiring  an  education  in  that 
neighborhood  were  very  slim  indeed,  besides  I  never 
felt  inclined  to  go  to  school  even  when  I  had  a  chance  j 
I  was  too  fond  of  hunting  and  fishing,  or  playing 
around  the  majestic  bluffs  that  wall  in  one  side  or  the 
other  of  Big  Kiver,  the  whole  length  of  that  crooked 
and  very  romantic  stream.  One  day's  schooling  was 
all  that  I  ever  got  in  my  life ;  that  day  wTas  sufficient 
for  me,  it  gave  me  a  distaste  to  the  very  sight  of  a 
school  house,  I  only  learned  the  names  of  two  letters, 
one  shaped  like  the  gable  end  of  a  house  roof,  and  the 
other  shaped  like  an  ox  yoke  standing  on  end.  At 
recess  in  the  afternoon  the  boys  got  to  picking  at  me 
while  the  teacher  was  gone  to  dinner,  and  I  had  them 
every  one  to  whip.  "When  the  old  tyrant  came  back 
from  dinner  and  commenced  talking  saucy,  I  gave  him 
a  good  cursing  and  broke  for  home.  My  father  very 
generously  gave  me  my  choice,  either  to  go  to  school 
or  to  work  on  the  farm.  I  gladly  accepted  the  latter, 
redoubled  my  energy  and  always  afterwards  took  par 
ticular  pain3  to  please  my  father  in  all  things,  because 
he  was  so  kind  as  not  to  compel  me  to  attend  school. 
A  threat  to  send  me  to  school  was  all  the  whipping 
that  I  ever  required  to  insure  obedience;  I  was  more 
afraid  of  that  than  I  was  of  old  "Kaw-head-and-bloody- 
bones,"  or  even  the  old  scratch  himself. 

In  1850,  my  father  died,  but  I  still  remained  at  the 
homestead,  working  for  the  support  of  my  mother 
and  the  rest  of  the  family,  until  I  had  reached  the  age 
of  nineteen  years,  then,  on  the  30th  day  of  October, 
1864,  I  married  Miss  Margaret  Hampton,  the  daughter 


82  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

of  a  highly  esteemed  citizen  of  St.  Francois  county* 
I  built  a  neat  log  house,  opened  a  farm  for  myself, 
within  half  a  mile  of  the  old  homestead,  and  \ve  went 
to  housekeeping  for  ourselves. 

Prom  the  time  that  my  father  first  settled  on  Big 
Biver,  we  had  an  abundance  of  stock,  and  especially 
hogs.  The  range  was  always  good,  and  as  the  uplands 
and  hills  constituted  an  endless  forest  of  oaks,  the  in 
exhaustible  supply  of  acorns  afforded  all  the  food 
that  our  hogs  required ;  they  roamed  in  the  woods, 
and  of  course,  many  of  them  became  as  wild  as  deer ; 
the  wild  ones  remained  among  the  hills  and  increased 
until  they  became  very  numerous.  "Whenever  they 
were  fat  enough  for  pork,  we  were  in  the  habit  of 
going  into  the  woods  with  our  guns  and  our  dogs  and 
killing  as  many  of  them  as  we  could. 

A  few  years  after  my  father  had  settled  there,  a 
colony  of  Pennsylvania  Dutch  had  established  them 
selves  in  our  neighborhood;  they  were  very  numerous 
and  constituted  about  two-thirds  of  the  population  of 
our  township.  They  soon  set  up  "  wild  hog  claims," 
declaring  that  some  of  their  hogs  had  also  run  wild  j 
this  led  to  disputes  and  quarrels,  and  to  some  "fist  and 
skull  fighting,"  in  which  my  brothers  and  myself  soon 
won  the  reputation  of  "  bullies."  Finding  that  they 
had  no  show  at  this  game,  they  next  resorted  to  the 
law,  and  we  had  many  little  law  suits  before  our  justice 
of  the  peace.  The  Dutch  out  swore  us,  and  we  soon 
found  the  Hildebrand  family  branded  by  them  with 
the  very  unjust  and  unpleasant  epithet  of  "hog  thieves;" 
but  we  went  in  on  the  muscle  and  still  held  the  woods. 


SAMUEL    S.    HILDEBRAND, 

As  our  part  of  the  country  became  more  thickly 
settled  and  new  neighbors  came  in,  they  in  turn  were 
prejudiced  against  us ;  and  the  rising  generation  seemed 
to  cling  to  the  same  idea,  that  the  Hildebrands  seemed 
to  love  pork  a  little  too  well  and  needed  watching. 
Unfortunately  for  me,  my  old  neighbors  were  union 
men;  all  my  sympathies  too,  were  decidedly  for  the 
union.  I  heard  with  alarm  the  mutterings  of  war  in 
the  distance,  like  the  deep  tones  of  thunder  beyond  the 
frowning  hills.  I  had  never  made  politics  my  study  j 
I  had  no  education  whatever,  and  had  to  rely  exclu 
sively  on  what  others  told  me.  Of  course  I  was  easily 
imposed  upon  by  political  tricksters,  yet  from  my 
heart  I  deplored  the  necessity  of  a  resort  to  arms,  if 
such  a  necessity  did  exist,  a.nd  whether  it  did  or  not 
was  more  than  I  could  divine. 

While  my  union  neighbors  and  enemies  were  making 
the  necessary  preparations  for  leaving  their  families  in 
comfortable  circumstances  before  taking  up  arms  in 
defense  of  their  country,  there  were  a  few  shrewed 
southern  men  around  to  magnify  and  distort  the  griev 
ances  of  the  southern  people.  In  many  cases  the  men 
whom  they  obtained  had  nothing  in  the  world  at  stake, 
no  useful  object  in  view,  no  visible  means  of  acquiring 
an  honest  livelihood,  and  were  even  without  a  horse 
to  ride.  This,  however,  only  afforded  them  a  pretext 
for  practicing  what  they  called  "  pressing  horses," 
which  was  done  on  a  large  scale.  Neither  political 
principles,  patriotic  motives,  nor  love  of  country 
prompted  this  abominable  system  of  horse  stealing.  It 
was  not  confined  to  either  party,  and  it  was  a  remarka- 


34  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

ble  co-incident  how  invariably  the  political  sentiments 
of  a  horse-pressing  renegade  would  differ  from  the 
neighbor  who  happened  to  have  the  fastest  horses. 


SAMUEL   B.    HILDEBKAND.  35 


CHAPTEE  III. 

Determination  to  take  no  part  in  the  War. — Mr.  Ringer  killed 
by  Rebels. — The  cunning  device  of  Allen  Roan. — Vigilance 
Committee  organized. — The  baseness  of  Mobocracy. — At 
tacked  by  the  Mob. — Escape  to  Flat  Woods. 

In  the  spring  of  1861,  the  war  of  the  Great  [Rebellion 
was  inaugurated,  and  during  the  following  summer  was 
carried  on  in  great  fury  in  many  places,  but  I  shall 
only  speak  of  those  occurrences  which  had  a  particular 
bearing  upon  myself. 

I  called  on  some  good  citizens  who  were  not  republi 
cans,  and  whom  I  knew  to  be  well  posted  in  the  cur 
rent  events  of  the  day,  to  ask  them  what  course  it  was 
best  for  me  to  pursue  during  the  unnatural  struggle. 
They  advised  me  to  stay  at  home  and  attend  to  my 
own  business.  This  1  determined  to  do,  so  I  paid  no 
further  attention  to  what  was  going  on,  put  in  my 
crop  of  corn  at  the  usual  season  and  cultivated  it  dur 
ing  the  summer. 

On  the  9th  day  of  August  the  popular  excitement  in 
St.  Francois  county  was  greatly  increased  by  the  kill 
ing  of  Mr.  Ringer,  a  union  man,  who  was  shot  at  his 
own  house  for  no  other  cause  than  his  political  princi 
ples.  He  was  killed,  as  I  afterwards  learned,  by  Allen 
Eoan  and  Tom  Cooper.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind 
that  Roan  was  a  relative  of  mine  with  whom  I  was  on 


>  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

friendly  terms.  I  was  not  implicated  in  the  death  of 
Ringer  in  any  manner,  shape,  or  form,  but  suspicion 
rested  upon  me  j  the  "Hildebrand  gang"  were  branded 
with  the  murder. 

I  could  not  check  Roan  in  the  rash  course  he  was 
pursuing;  but  in  all  sincerity,  I  determined  to  follow 
the  advice  given  me  by  a  certain  union  friend,  who 
told  me  to  take  no  part  in  the  cause  that  would  in  the 
end  bring  disaster  upon  myself.  It  was  good  advice  ; 
why  then  did  I  not  follow  it?  In  the  presence  of  that 
Being  who  shall  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead,  I  shall 
truthfully  and  in  a  few  words  explain  the  whole  matter. 
I  had  no  sooner  made  up  my  mind  fully  what  course  to 
pursue,  than  I  was  caught  in  a  cunningly  devised  trap 
that  settled  my  destiny  forever. 

One  evening  Allen  Roan  came  to  my  field  where  I 
was  plowing  and  proposed  swapping  horses  with  me  ; 
the  horse  which  he  said  he  had  bought  was  a  better  one 
than  my  own,  so  I  consented  to  make  the  exchange ; 
finding  afterwards  that  the  horse  would  not  work  in 
harness,  I  swapped  him  off  the  next  day  to  Mr.  Rogers. 

Prior  to  this  time  my  neighbors  had  organized  them 
selves  into  what  they  called  a  Vigilance  Committee, 
and  were  moving  in  squads  night  and  day  to  put  down 
horse  stealing.  Only  a  few  of  the  committee  were 
dangerous  men,  but  Firman  Mcllvaine,  who  was  put 
at  the  head  of  the  gang  was  influenced  by  the  worst 
element  in  the  community  j  it  became  a  political  ma 
chine  for  oppression  and  bloodshed  under  the  guidance 
of  James  Craig,  John  House,  Joe  McGahan,  John 


SAMIJUL    S.    HiLDEiiRAND.  oT 

woody,  "William  Pattern,  and  others,  who  were  swearing 
death  to  every  man  implicated  i  n  any  way  with  the 
southern  recruits  who  were  pressing  horses. 

The  horse  I  had  traded  for  from  Allen  Roan  and 
which  Rogers  obtained  from  me,  proved  to  be  the 
property  of  Dun  woody.  I  was  apprised  of  the  fact 
by  a  friend  at  night,  and  told  also  that  they  had  threat 
ened  me  and  my  brother  Frank  with  death  if  they 
could  find  us,  and  notwithstanding  our  entire  innocence 
in  the  matter,  we  were  compelled  to  hide  out.  We 
knew  that  when  the  law  is  wrested  from  the  civil  au 
thorities  by  such  men  as  they  were,  that  anything  like 
a  trial  would  not  be  permitted.  We  secreted  ourselves 
in  the  woods,  hoping  that  matters  would  take  a  different 
turn  in  a  short  time  ;  each  night  I  was  posted  in  regard 
to  their  threats.  I  would  willingly  have  surrendered 
myself  to  the  civil  authorities  with  a  guarantee  of  a 
fair  trial  j  but  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  an  unscrupulous 
mob  who  were  acting  in  violation  of  law,  particularly 
when  law  arid  order  was  broken  up  by  the  heavy  tramp 
of  war,  was  what  we  were  compelled  by  all  means  to 
avoid.  We  had  no  alternative  but  to  elude  their  search. 

It  is  a  fact  well  known,  that  in  the  upheaval  of  popu 
lar  passion  for  the  overliirow  of  law  and  order  under 
any  pretext  whatever,  a  nucleus  is  formed,  around 
which  the  most  vile,  the  most  turbulent,  and  the  most 
cowardly  instinctively  fly.  Cowardly  villains  invari 
ably  join  in  with  every  mob  that  conies  within  their 
reach;  personal  enmity  and  spite  is  frequently  their 
controling  motive ;  the  possible  opportunity  of  re 
dressing  some  supposed  grievance  without  incurring 


38  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

danger  to  themselves  is  their  incentive  for  swelling  the 
mob.  A  person  guilty  of  any  particular  crime,  to  avoid 
suspicion,  is  always  the  most  clamorous  for  blood  when 
some  one  else  stands  accused  of  the  same  offense.  In 
the  Vigilance  Committee  were  found  the  same  materials 
existing  in  all  mobs.  No  brave  man  was  ever  a  tyrant, 
but  no  coward  ever  failed  to  be  one  when  he  had  the 
power.  They  still  kept  up  the  search  for  me  and  my 
brother  with  an  energy  worthy  of  a  better  cause. 

It  was  now  October,  the  nights  were  cold  and  we 
suffered  much  for  the  want  of  blankets  and  even  for 
food.  ~VVe  were  both  unaccustomed  to  sleeping  out  at 
night  and  were  chilled  by  the  cold  wind  that  whistled 
through  the  trees.  After  we  had  thus  continued  in  the 
woods  about  three  weeks,  I  concluded  to  venture  in 
one  night  to  see  my  family  and  to  get  something  to  eat, 
and  some  bed  clothes  to  keep  me  more  comfortable  at 
night. 

I  had  heard  no  unusual  noise  in  the  woods  that  day, 
had  seen  no  one  pass,  nor  heard  the  tramp  of  horses 
feet  in  any  direction. 

It  was  about  eleven  o'clock  at  night  when  I  got  within 
sight  of  the  house,  no  light  was  burning  within  ;  I 
heard  no  noise  of  any  kind,  and  believing  that  all  was 
right  I  crept  up  to  the  house  and  whispered  "Margaret" 
through  a  crack.  My  wife  heard  me,  and  recognizing 
my  voice  she  noiselessly  opened  the  door  and  le^t  me  in. 
We  talked  only  in  whispers,  and  in  a  few  minutes  she 
placed  my  supper  upon  the  table.  Just  as  I  was  go 
ing  to  eat  I  heard  the  top  rail  fall  off  my  yard  fence. 
The  noise  did  not  suit  me,  so  I  took  my  gun  in  one 


SAMUEL    S.    HILDEBRAMD.  39 

% 

hand,  a  loaf  of  corn  bread  in  the  other,  and  instantly 
stepped  out  into  the  yard  by  a  back  door. 

JVIcIlvaine  and  his  vigilantees  were  also  in  the  yard, 
and  were  approaching  the  house  from  all  sides  in  a 
regular  line.  In  an  instant  I  detected  a  gap  in  their 
ranks  and  dashed  through  it.  As  they  commenced 
firing  I  dodged  behind  a  molasses  mill  that  fortunately 
stood  in  the  yard,  it  caught  nine  of  their  bullets  and 
without  doubt  saved  my  life.  After  the  first  volley  I 
struck  for  the  woods,  a  distance  of  about  two  hundred 
yards.  Though  their  firing  did  not  cease,  I  stopped 
midway  to  shoot  at  their  flame  of  fire,  but  a  thought 
struck  me  that  it  would  too  well  indicate  my  where 
abouts  in  the  open  field,  so  I  hastened  on  until  I  had 
gained  the  edge  of  the  woods,  and  there  I  sat  down  to 
listen  at  what  was  going  on  at  the  house.  I  heard 
Firman  Mcllvaine's  name  called  several  times,  and  very 
distinctly  heard  his  replies  and  knew  his  voice.  This 
satisfied  me  beyond  all  doubt  that  the  marauders  were 
none  other  than  the  self-styled  Vigilance  Committee. 

I  was  fortunate  in  my  escape,  and  had  a  deep  sense 
of  gratitude  to  heaven  for  my  miraculous  preservation. 
Though  I  had  not  made  my  condition  much  better  by 
my  visit,  yet  I  gnawed  away,  at  intervals,  upon  my 
loaf  of  corn  bread,  and  tried  to  reconcile  myself  as 
much  as  possible  to  the  terrible  state  of  aifairs  then 
existing.  I  saw  very  plainly  that  my  enemies  would 
not  permit  me  to  remain  in  that  vicinity ;  but  the  idea 
of  being  compelled  to  leave  my  dear  home  where  I  wars 
born  and  raised,  and  to  strike  out  into  the  unknown 
world  with  my  family  without  a  dollar  in  my  pocket, 


40  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

• 
without  anything  except  one   horse  and  the  clothing 

we  had  upon  our  backs,  was  anything  in  the  world 
but  cheering  However,  I  had  no  alternative  ;  to  take 
care  of  my  dependent  and  suffering  family,  was  the 
motive  uppermost  in  my  mind  at  all  times. 

After  the  mob  had  apparently  left,  my  wife  came 
out  to  me  in  the  woods.  Our  plans  were  soon  formed; 
after  dressing  the  children,  five  in  number,  as  quietly 
and  speedily  as  possible,  she  brought  them  to  me  at  a 
designated  point  among  the  hills  in  the  dark  forest.  She 
returned  to  the  house  alone,  and  with  as  little  noise  as 
possible  saddled  up  my  horse,  and  after  packing  him 
with  what  bed  clothing  and  provisions  she  conveniently 
could,  she  circled  around  among  the  hills  and  re 
joined  mo  at  a  place  I  had  named  in  the  deep  forest 
about  five  miles  from  our  once  happy  home.  Daylight 
soon  made  its  appearance  and  enabled  me  to  pick  out 
a  place  of  tolerable  security. 

We  remained  concealed  until  the  re-appearance  of 
night  and  then  proceeded  on  our  cheerless  wandering.  In 
silence  we  trudged  along  in  the  woods  as  best  we  could, 
avoiding  the  mud  and  occasional  pools  of  water.  I 
carried  my  gun  on  my  shoulder  and  one  of  the  children 
on  my  hip ;  my  wife,  packing  the  baby  in  her  arms, 
walked  quietly  by  my  side.  I  never  was  before  so 
deeply  impressed  with  the  faith,  energy  and  confiding 
spirit  of  woman.  As  the  moon  would  occasionally 
peep  forth  from  the  drifting  clouds  and  strike  upon  the 
pale  features  of  my  uncomplaining  wife,  I  thought  I 
could  detect  a  look  of  cheerfulness  in  her  countenance, 
and  more  than  once  I  thought  I  heard  a  suppressed 


SAMUEL   S.    HILDEBRAND.  41 

titter  when  either  of  us  got  tangled  up  in  the  brush. 
When  daylight  appeared  we  were  on  Wolf  creek,  a  few 
miles  south  of  Farmington  j  here  we  stopped  in  the 
woods  to  cook  our  breakfast  and  to  rest  a  while.  Dur 
ing  the  day  we  proceeded  on  to  what  is  called  Flat 
Woods,  eight  miles  from  Farmington,  in  the  southern 
part  of  St.  Francois  county,  and  about  ten  miles  north 
from  Fredericktown.  From  Mr.  Griffin  I  obtained  the 
use  of  a  log  cabin  in  a  retired  locality,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  we  were  duly  installed  in  our  new  house. 


42  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 


CHAPTEE  IV. 

Mcllvaine's  Vigilance  Mob. — Treachery  of  Castleman. — Frank 
Hildebrand  hung  by  the  Mob. — Organization  of  the  Mob 
into  a  Militia  Company. 

The  Vigilance  Committee,  with  Firman  Mcllvaine  at 
its  head,  was  formed  ostensibly  for  the  mutual  protec 
tion  against  plunderers  \  yet  some  bad  men  were  in  it. 
By  their  influence  it  became  a  machine  of  oppression,  a 
shield  for  cowards,  and  the  head-quarters  for  tyranny. 

After  I  left  Big  River  my  brother  Frank  continued 
to  conceal  himself  in  the  woods  until  about  the  middle 
of  November  j  the  weather  now  grew  so  cold  that  he 
could  stand  it  no  longer ;  he  took  the  advice  of  Frank 
lin  Murphy  and  made  his  way  to  Potosi,  and  in  order 
to  silence  all  suspicion  in  regard  to  his  loyalty,  he  went 
to  Captain  Castleman  and  offered  to  join  the  Home 
Guards.  Castleman  being  intimate  with  Firman  Mcll 
vaine,  detained  Frank  until  he  had  time  to  send  Mcll 
vaine  word,  and  then  basely  betraj^ed  him  into  the 
merciless  hands  of  the  vigilant  mob. 

In  order  to  obtain  a  shadow  of  legal ty  for  his  pro 
ceedings,  Mcllvaine  took  brother  Frank  before  Frank 
lin  Murphy,  who  at  that  time  was  justice  of  the  peace 
on  Big  River.  Frank  was  anxious  that  the  justice 
might  try  the  case  ;  but  when  Murphy  told  them  that 
all  the  authority  he  had  would  only  enable  him  to  com 
mit  him  to  jail  for  trial  in  the  proper  court,  even  if  the 


SAMUEL    S.    HILDEBRAND.  43 

charges  were  sustained/ they  were  dissatisfied  at  this, 
and  in  order  to  take  the  matter  out  of  the  hands  of  the 
justice  and  make  it  heyond  his  jurisdiction,  they  de 
clared  that  lie  had  stolen  a  horse  in  Ste.  G-enevieve 
county. 

The  mob  then  took  Frank  to  Punjaub,  in  that  county, 
before  Justice  K.  M.  Cole,  who  told  them  that  he  was 
a  sworn  officer  of  the  law,  and  that  if  they  should  pro 
duce  sufficient  evidence  against  their  prisoner,  he  could 
only  commit  him  to  jail.  This  of  course  did  not  satisfy 
the  mob ;  to  take  the  case  out  of  his  hands,  they  stated 
that  the  offense  he  had  committed  was  that  of  stealing 
a  mule  in  Jefferson  county.  They  stated  also  that 
Frank  and  Sam  Anderson  had  gone  in  the  night  to  the 
house  of  a  Mr.  Carney  to  steal  his  mare ;  that  Mrs.  Car 
ney  on  hearing  them  at  the  gate,  went  out  and  told 
them  that  Mr.  Carney  was  absent  and  had  rode  the 
mare;  that  they  then  compelled  Mrs.  Carney  to  go 
with  them  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  her  night  clothes  to 
show  them  where  Mr.  Becket  lived ;  and  finally  that 
they  went  there  and  stole  his  horse.  Failing  however 
to  obtain  the  co-operation  of  the  Justice  in  carrying 
out  their  lawless  designs,  the  mob  left  with  their  pris 
oner,  declaring  that  they  were  going  to  take  him  to 
Jefferson  county  for  trial. 

The  sad  termination  of  the  affair  is  soon  told.  TJje 
mob  took  my  kind,  inoffensive  brother  about  five  miles 
and  hung  him  without  any  trial  whatever,  after  which 
they  threw  his  body  in  a  sink-hole  thirty  feet  in  depth, 
and  there  his  body  laid  for  more  than  a  month  before 
it  was  found,  A  few  weeks  after  this  cold  blooded 


44  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

murder  took  place,  Firman  Mcllvaine  had  the  audacity 
to  boast  of  the  d£ed,  declaring  positively  that  Frank 
had  been  hung  by  his  express  orders.  This  murder 
took  place  on  the  20th  day  of  November,  1861,  about 
a  month  after  I  had  been  driven  from  Big  River. 

A  few  nights  after  my  arrival  at  Flat  Woods  I  made 
my  way  back  to  my  old  home  in  order  to  briug  away 
some  more  of  my  property,  but  on  arriving  there  1 
found  that  my  house  had  been  robbed  and  all  my 
property  either  taken  away  or  destroyed.  I  soon 
learned  from  a  friend  that  the  Yigilance  Committee 
had  wantonly  destroyed  everything  that  they  did  not 
want.  I  returned  to  FJat  Woods  in  a  very  despondent 
mood.  I  was  completely  broken  up. 

The  union  men  were  making  war  upon  me,  but  I 
was  making  no  war  upon  them,  for  I  still  wished  to 
take  no  part  in  the  national  struggle.  I  considered  it 
"  a  rich  man's  war  and  a  poor  man's  fight."  But  a 
sense  of  my  wrongs  bore  heavily  upon  me  ;  I  had  been 
reduced  to  absolute  poverty  (to  say  nothing  of  the 
murder  of  my  brother)  by  the  unrelenting  cruelty  of 
Firman  Mcllvaine  who  was  a  rich  man,  drowned  in 
luxury  and  surrounded  by  all  the  comforts  of  life  that 
the  eye  could  wish,  or  a  cultivated  appetite  could 
desire. 

The  war  was  now  raging  with  great  fury  in  many 
sections  of  the  country ;  yet  I  remained  at  home  intent 
on  making  a  living  for  my  family,  provided  I  could  do 
so  without  being  molested,  but  during  all  the  time  I 
was  at  work,  I  had  to  keep  a  sharp  lookout  for  my 
enemies. 


SAMUEL  S.   HILDEBRAND.  47 

That  leprous  plague  spot — the  Yigilance  Committee 
— finally  ripened  and  culminated  in'the  formation  of  a 
company  of  militia  on  Big  Kiver,  with  James  Craig  for 
Captain  and  Joe  McGahan  for  First  Lieutenant.  The 
very  act  for  which  they  were  so  anxious  to  punish 
others,  on  mere  suspicion,  they  themselves  now  com 
mitted  with  a  high  hand. 

They  were  ordered  to  disarm  southern  sympathizers 
and  to  seize  on  articles  contraband  of  war,  such  as 
arms  and  ammunition.  This  gave  them  great  latitude; 
the  cry  of  "disloyal"  could  be  very  easily  raised  against 
any  man  who  happened  to  have  a  superabundance  of 
property.  "Arms"  was  construed  also  to  include  arm 
chairs  and  their  arms  full  of  everything  they  could  get 
their  hands  on;  "guns"  included  Gunn's  Domestic  Medi 
cine;  a  fine  claybank  mare  was  confiscated  because  she 
looked  so  fiery)  and  a  spotted  mule  because  it  had  so 
many  colors ;  they  took  a  gun  from  Mr.  Metts  merely 
because  he  lived  on  the  south  side  of  Big  Eiver ;  they 
dipped  heavily  into  the  estate  of  Dick  Poston,  deceased, 
by  killing  the  cattle  for  beef  and  dividing  it  among 
themselves,  under  the  pretext  that  if  Dick  Poston  had 
been  living,  he  most  undoubtedly  would  have  been  a 
rebel. 


48  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 


CHAPTEK  Y. 

His  house  at  Flat  Woods  attacked  by  Eighty  Soldiers.— 
Wounded. — Miraculous  Escape. — Captain  Bolin.— Arrival  in 
Green  County,  Arkansas. 

In  April,  1862,  after  we  had  lived  at  Flat  "Woods 
during  six  months  of  perfect  trail quility,  that  same 
irrepressible  Vigilance  Committee,  or  some  men  who 
had  composed  it,  learned  finally  that  I  was  living  at 
Flat  Woods.  Firman  Mcllvaine  and  Joe  McG-ahan 
succeeded  in  getting  eighty  soldiers  from  Ironton  to 
aid  in  my  capture.  I  had  been  hauling  wood;  as  soon 
as  I  unloaded  the  wagon  I  stepped  into  the  house,  and 
the  first  thing  I  knew,  the  eighty  soldiers  and  the 
vigilantees  were  within  gunshot  and  coming  under  ftill 
charge.  I  seized  my  gun  and  dashed  through  a  gap  in 
their  lines  that  Heaven  had  again  left  open  for  my 
escape.  They  commenced  firing  upon  me  as  soon  as  I 
was  out  of  the  house.  The  brush  being  very  thick  not 
far  off,  I  saw  that  my  only  chance  was  to  gain  the 
woods,  and  that  as  soon  as  possible.  I  ran  through  the 
garden  and  jumped  over  a  picket  fence — this  stopped 
the  cavalry  for  a  moment.  I  made  through  the  brush; 
but  out  of  the  hundreds  of  bullets  sent  after  me,  one 
struck  my  leg  below  the  knee  and  broke  a  bone.  I 
held  up  by  the  bushes  as  well  as  I  could,  to  keep  them 
from  knowing  that  I  was  wounded.  While  they  had  to 
stop  to  throw  down  a  fence,  I  scrambled  along  about 


SAMUEL   S.    HILDEBRAND.  49 

two  hundred  yards  farther,  and  crouched  in  a  gully  that 
happened  to  be  half  full  of  leaves;  I  quickly  buried 
myself  completely  from  sight.  The  soldiers  were  all 
around  in  a  short  time  and  scoured  the  woods  in  every 
direction ;  then  they  went  back  and  burned  the  house 
and  everything  we  had,  after  which  they  left  and  I 
saw  them  no  more. 

Sixteen  of  Captain  Bolin's  men  on  the  day  before 
had  been  seen  to  cross  the  gravel  road;  this, probably, 
was  why  the  federal  soldiers  did^not  remain  longer. 
Captain  Bolin  was  a  brave  rebel  officer,  whose  head 
quarters  were  in  Green  county,  Arkansas,  and  under 
whose  command  some  of  the  most  daring  spirits  who 
figured  in  the  war,  were  led  on  to  deeds  of  heroism 
scarcely  over  equaled. 

Our  condition  was  truly  deplorable ;  there  I  lay  in 
the  gully  covered  up  with  leaves,  with  one  leg  ren 
dered  useless,  without  even  the  consolation  of  being 
allowed  to  groan ;  my  family,  too,  were  again  without 
shelter;  the  soldiers  had  burned  everything — clothes, 
bedding  and  provisions. 

As  I  lay  in  that  gully,  suffering  with  my  wounds  in 
flicted  by  United  States  soldiers,  I  declared  war.  I 
determined  to  fight  it  out  with  them,  and  by  the  assist 
ance  of  my  faithful  gun,  "Kill-devil,"  to  destroy  as 
many  of  my  blood-thirsty  enemies  as  I  possibly  could. 
To  submit  to  further  wrong  from  their  hands  would  be 
an  insult  to  the  Being  who  gave  me  the  power  of  re 
sistance. 

After  the  soldiers  had  left,  my  wife  came  in  search 
of  me,  believing  that  I  was  wounded  from  the  manner 
3 


60  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

in  which  I  seemed  to  run.  I  told  her  to  go  back,  that 
I  was  not  hurt  very  bad,  and  that  when  she  was  satis 
fied  that  no  one  was  watching  around,  to  come  at  night 
and  dress  my  leg.  She  went,  however,  in  search  of 
some  friend  on  whom  we  could  rely  for  assistance. 
Fortunately  she  came  across  Mr.  Pigg,  to  whom  she 
related  the  whole  circumstance,  and  he  came  immedi 
ately  to  my  relief.  He  was  a  man  of  the  right  stripe ; 
regardless  of  consequences,  he  did  everything  in  his 
power  to  relieve  my  suffering,  and  to  supply  my  family 
with  bedding  and  provisions.  He  removed  us  by  night 
to  a  place  of  safety,  and  liberally  gave  us  all  we  needed. 
While  I  thus  lay  nursing  my  wound,  my  place  of  con 
cealmcnt  was  known  only  to  a  few  men  whom  we 
could  easily  trust. 

In  my  hours  of  loneliness  I  had  much  time  for  re 
flection.  The  terrible  strait  in  which  I  found  myself, 
naturally  led  me  to  the  mental  inquiry  :  "  Have  I  the 
brand  of  Cain,  that  the  hands  of  men  should  be  turned 
against  me?  What  have  I  done  to  merit  the  persecu 
tion  so  cruel  and  so  persistent?"  I  could  not  solve 
the  questions;  in  the  sight  of  a  just  God  I  felt  that  I 
did  not  merit  such  treatment.  Sometimes  I  half  re 
solved  to  go  into  some  other  State  on  purpose  to  avoid 
the  war ;  but  I  was  constantly  warned  by  my  friends 
who  were  southern  men,  (the  only  men  with  whom  I 
could  hold  communication  at  present,)  that  it  would  be 
unsafe  to  think  of  doing  so,  and  that  my  only  safety 
lay  in  my  flight  to  the  southern  army.  The  vigilance 
mob  had  nearly  destroyed  every  vestige  of  sympathy 
or  good  feeling  I  had  for  the  union  people.  They  had 


SAMUEL   S.    IIILDEBRAND.  £>1 

reported  me,  both  to  the  civil  and  military  authorities, 
as  being  a  horse  thief,  and,  withal,  a  very  dangerous 
man. 

On  thinking  the  matter  over  I  lost  all  hope  of  ever 
being  able  to  reinstate  myself  in  their  favor  and  being 
permitted  to  enjoy  the  peaceful  privileges  of  a  quiet 
citizen.  The  die  was  cast — for  the  sake  of  revenge,  I 
pronounced  myself  a  Rebel. 

I  remained  very  quietly  at  my  place  of  concealment 
while  my  wife  doctored  my  wounded  leg  for  a  week 
before  my  friend  had  an  opportunity  of  sending  word 
to  any  of  Captain  Bolin's  men  to  come  to  my  relief. 
As  soon  as  my  case  was  made  known  to  them,  however, 
a  man  was  dispatched  to  see  me  for  the  purpose  of 
learning  all  the  particulars  in  the  case.  He  came  and 
asked  me  a  great  many  questions,  but  answered  none. 
When  he  arose  to  depart  he  only  said,  "all  right — rest 
easy." 

The  next  night  I  was  placed  in  a  light  spring  wagon 
among  some  boxes  of  drugs  and  medicines,  and  was  told 
that  my  wife  and  family  would  be  taken  to  Bloornficld 
by  Captain  Bolin  in  a  short  time,  and  protected  until  I 
could  come  after  them.  A  guard  of  two  men  accom 
panied  us,  and  rode  the  whole  night  without  speaking 
a  word  to  any  one.  Nearly  the  whole  route  was 
through  the  woods,  and  although  the  driver  was  very 
watchful  and  used  every  precaution  against  making  a 
noise,  yet  in  the  darkness  of  the  night  I  was  tumbled 
about  among  the  boxes  pretty  roughly. 

When  daylight  came  we  halted  in  a  desolate  looking 
country,  inhabited  only  by  wild  animals  of  the  forest. 


52  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

We  had  traveled  down  on  the  western  side  of  St.  Fran 
cois  river,  and  were  now  camped  near  the  most  western 
bend  on  that  river  near  the  southern  line  of  Madison 
county ;  we  remained  all  day  at  that  point,  and  I  spent 
most  of  my  time  in  sleeping.  When  the  sun  had  dipped 
behind  the  western  hills  we  again  commenced  our 
journey.  Our  course  seemed  to  bear  more  to  the  east 
ward  than  it  did  the  night  before,  and  as  we  were  then 
in  a  country  not  so  badly  infested  with  Federals,  we 
traveled  a  good  part  of  our  time  in  narrow,  crooked 
roads,  but  they  were  rough  beyond  all  description,  and 
I  was  extremely  glad  when  about  eight  o'clock  in  the 
morning  we  halted  for  breakfast  on  the  western  bank 
of  St.  Francois  river,  about  midway  between  Bloom- 
field,  in  Stoddard  county,  and  Crane  creek,  in  Butler. 
While  resting  here  a  scouting  party  from  General 
Jeff.  Thompson's  camp  came  riding  up. 

"Well  boys  !  what  have  you  in  your  wagon  ?" 
" Drugs  and  medicines  for  Captain  Bolin's  camp." 
On  hearing  this  they  dismounted  and  kept  up  a  lively 
conversation  around  the  camp  fire.     Among  their  num 
ber  was  a  jovial  fellow  who  kept  the  rest  all  laughing.    I 
thought  I  knew  the  voice,  and  as  I  turned  over  to  peep 
through  a  hole  in   the  wagon  bed,  he  heard  me  and 
sprang  to  his  feet. 

"  Who  in  thunderation  have  you  in  the  wagon  ?" 
"Some  fellow  from  St.  Francois  county,  wounded  and 
driven  off  by  the  Federals." 

"  The  devil !  why  that  is  my  native  county.  I'll  take 
a  look  at  that  fellow.  Its  Sam  Hildebrand  as  I  live  ! 
How  do  you  do,  old  rapscallion?" 


SAMUEL    S.    HILDEBRAND.  53 

""Well,  well,  if  I  haven't  run  across  Tom  Haile,  the 
dare-devil  of  the  swamps!" 

"Old  'drugs  and  medicines'  what  are  you  doing 
here  ?  trying  to  pass  yourself  off  for  a  great  medicinal 
root  I  suppose.  Do  you  feel  tolerable  better?  Fm 
afraid  you  are  poison.  Say,  Sam,  did  you  bring  some 
good  horses  down  with  you?" 

"  Hush  Tom  !  if  they  find  out  that  Tin  not  a  horse 
thief,  they  will  drum  me  out  of  camp !" 

The  party  soon  prepared  to  start ;  the  first  man  who 
attempted  to  mount  came  near  being  dashed  to  the 
ground  in  consequence  of  the  rattling  of  a  tin  cup 
some  one  had  tied  to  his  spur.  Tom  said  it  was  a  per 
fect  shame  to  treat  any  man  in  that  way ;  the  man 
seemed  to  think  so,  too,  judging  from  the  glance  he 
cast  at  Tom.  But  they  mounted,  dashed  through  a 
sheet  of  muddy  water,  then  over  a  rocky  point,  and 
soon  were  far  away  amid  the  dim  blue  hills. 

We  started  on,  and  after  -graveling  until  about  mid 
night,  wo  reached  the  State  line  between  Missouri  and 
Arkansas,  there  we  remained  until  morning ;  on  start 
ing  again  we  were  in  Green  county,  Arkansas,  and 
sometime  during  the  day  we  arrived  safely  at  the  Head 
quarters  of  Captain  Bolin,  and  I  was  wel comely  re 
ceived  into  the  little  community  of  families,  who  were 
here  assembled  for  mutual  protection — most  of  them 
were  the  families  of  Captain  Bolin's  men.  I  received 
every  attention  from  them  that  my  necessities  required, 
and  as  my  wound  seemed  to  be  doing  well,  I  felt  for  a 
time  quite  at  home. 


54  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Interview  with  Gen.  Jeff.  Thompson.— Receives  a  Major's 
Commission. — Interview  with  Captain  Bolin.— Joins  the 
"Bushwhacking  Department." 

Captain  Bolin  with  most  of  his  forces  were  some 
where  in  the  vicinity  of  Bloomfield,  Missouri,  and  as  I 
was  anxious  to  identify  myself  with  the  army,  I  got 
the  use  of  a  horse  as  soon  as  I  was  able  to  ride,  and  in 
company  with  several  others  proceeded  across  the 
swampy  country  east  of  the  St.  Francis  river,  for  the 
purpose  of  joining  General  Jeff.  Thompson.  I  reached 
his  headquarters  in  safety,  and  stayed  about  camp, 
frequently  meeting  acquaintances  from  Missouri  and 
occasionally  getting  news  from  home.  As  soon  as  I 
could  gain  admission  to  the  General's  headquarters  I 
did  so,  and  he  received  me  very  kindly.  He  listened 
very  attentively  to  me  as  I  proceeded  to  state  my  case 
to  him — how  my  brother  had  been  murdered,  how  I 
had  barely  escaped  the  same  fate,  and  how  I  had  finally 
been  driven  from  the  country. 

General  Thompson  reflected  a  few  moments,  then 
seizing  a  pen  he  rapidly  wrote  off  a  few  lines  and  hand 
ing  it  to  me  ho  said,  "here,  I  give  you  a  Major's  com 
mission  ;  go  where  you  please,  take  what  men  you  can 
pick  up,  fight  on  your  o\vri  hook,  and  report  to  mo 
every  six  months."  I  took  the  paper  and  crammed  it 
'down  into  my  pantaloon's  pocket  and  walked  out,  I 


SAMUEL   S.    lilLDEBRAND.  55 

could  not  read  my  commission,  but  I  was  determined 
to  ask  no  one  to  read  it  forme,  for  that  would  bo  rather 
degrading  to  my  new  honor. 

I  retired  a  little  distance  from  camp  and  taking  my 
seat  on  an  old  cypress  log,  I  reflected  how  the  name  of 
"Major  Sam  Hildebrand"  would  look  in  history.  I 
did  not  feel  comfortable  over  the  new  and  very  unex 
pected  position  in  which  I  had  been  placed.  I  knew 
nothing  of  military  tactics ;  I  was  not  certain  whether 
a  Major  held  command  over  a  General  or  whether 
he  was  merely  a  bottle  washer  under  a  Captain.  I 
determined  that  if  the  latter  was  the  case,  that  I  would 
return  to  Green  county  and  serve  under  Captain  Bolin. 

As  I  had  no  money  with  which  to  buy  shoulder- 
straps,  I  determined  to  fight  without  them.  I  was  rather 
scarce  of  money  just  at  that  time;  if  steamboats  were 
selling  at  a  dollar  apiece,  I  did  not  have  money  enough 
to  buy  a  canoe  paddle.  I  stayed  in  camp,  however, 
several  days  taking  lessons,  and  hearing  the  tales  of 
blood  and  pillage  from  the  scouts  as  they  came  in  from 
various  directions. 

By  this  time  my  wound  felt  somewhat  easier,  so  I 
mounted  my  horse  and  made  my  way  back  to  Green 
county,  and  arrived  safely  at  Captain  Bolin's  head 
quarters.  The  Captain  was  at  home,  and  I  immedi 
ately  presented  myself  before  him.  He  said  he  had 
heard  of  me  from  one  of  his  s-  outs,  and  was  highly 
gratified  that  one  of  his  men  hud  seen  proper  to  have 
me-  conveyed  to  his  headquarters. 

"I  presume,"  said  he,  "that  you  have  been  to  the 


56  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

headquarters  of  General  Jeff.  Thompson.  Did  you 
see  the  <  Old  Swamp  Fox  ?' " 

"I  did." 

"What  did  he  do  for  you?'' 

Here  I  pulled  my  commission  from  my  pocket,  that 
now  looked  more  like  a  piece  of  gunwadding  than  any 
thing  else,  and  handed  it  to  the  Captain. 

"Well,  Major  Hildebrand— " 

"Sam,  if  you  please." 

"Yery  well  then,  what  do  you  propose  to  do?" 

"  I  propose  to  fight." 

"But  Major—" 

"  Sam,  if  you  please." 

"All  right,  sir !  Sam,  I  see  that  you  have  the  com 
mission  of  a  Major." 

"Well  Captain,  I  can  explain  that  matter :  he  formed 
me  into  an  indepcndant  company  of  my  own — to  pick 
up  a  few  men  if  can  get  them — go  where  I  please — when 
I  please — and  when  I  go  against  my  old  personal  ene 
mies  up  in  Missouri,  I  am  expected  to  do  a  Major  part 
of  the  fighting  myself." 

At  this  the  Captain  laughed  heartily,  and  after  rum 
maging  the  contents  of  an  old  box  he  drew  forth  some- 

o       o 

thing  that  looked  tome  very  much  like  a  bottle  After 
this  ceremony  was  over  he  remarked : 

"Well  sir,  the  commission  I  obtained  is  of  the  same 
kind.  I  have  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  men,  and  we 
are  what  is  denominated  f  Bushwhackers ' ;  we  carry  011 
a  war  against  our  enemies  by  shooting  them ;  my  men 
are  from  various  sections  of  the  country,  and  each  one 
perhaps  has  some  grievance  to  redress  at  home ;  in 


SAMUEL    S.    IIILDEBRAND.  57 

order  to  enable  him  to  do  this  effectually  we  give  him 
all  the  aid  that  he  may  require  ;  after  he  sets  things  to 
right  in  his  section  of  country,  he  promptly  comes 
back  to  help  the  others  in  return  j  we  thus  swap  work 
like  the  fanners  usually  do  in  harvest  time.  If  you 
wish  an  interest  in  this  joint  stock  mode  of  lighting 
you  can  unite  your  destiny  with  ours,  and  be  entitled 
to  all  our  privileges." 

Captain  Bolin's  proposition  was  precisely  what  I  so 
ardently  desired.  Of  the  real  merits  of  this  war  I 
knew  but  little  and  cared  still  less.  To  belong  to  a 
large  army  and  be  under  strict  military  discipline,  was 
not  pleasing  to  my  mind  ;  to  be  brought  up  in  a  strong 
column  numbering  several  thousands,  and  to  be  hurled 
in  regular  order  against  a  mass  of  men  covering  three 
or  four  miles  square,  against  whom  I  had  no  personal 
spite,  would  not  satisfy  my  spirit  of  revenge.  Even  in 
a  fierce  battle  fought  between  two  large  opposing 
armies,  not  more  than  one  man  out  of  ten  can  succeed 
in  killing  his  man  ;  in  a  battle  of  that  kind  he  would 
have  no  more  weight  than  a  gnat  on  a  bull's  horn. 

I  was  fully  satisfied  that  the  " Bushwhacking  depart 
ment"  was  the  place  for  me,  with  the  continent  for  a 
battle  field  and  the  everlasting  woods  for  my  head 
quarters. 


58  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Trip  to  Missouri. — Kills  George  Cornecious  for  reporting  on 
him. — Kills  Firman  Mcllvaine. — Attempt  to  kill  McGahan 
and  House. — Returns  to  Arkansas. 

My  wound  kept  me  at  headquarters  for  about  six 
weeks  after  my  arrival  in  Arkansas.  During  all  this 
time  I  could  not  hear  a  word  from  my  family,  for  the 
Federals  had  possession  of  every  town  in  that  section 
of  country,  together  with  all  the  roads  leading  from  one 
county  to  another. 

On  the  1st  day  of  June,  1862,  having  been  furnished 
a  horse,  I  took  my  faithful  gun,  "  Kill-devil,"  and  started 
on  my  first  trip  back  to  Missouri.  As  my  success  would 
depend  altogether  on  the  secrecy  of  my  movements,  I 
went  alone.  1  traveled  altogether  in  the  night,  and 
most  of  the  time  through  the  woods.  From  Captain 
Bolin's  men  I  had  learned  the  names  of  Southern  sym 
pathizers  along  the  whole  route,  so  I  made  it  conven 
ient  to  travel  slowly  in  order  to  favor  my  wounds  and 
to  get  acquainted  with  our  friends. 

I  arrived  in  the  vicinity  of  Flat  Woods,  in  St.  Fran 
cois  county,  Missouri,  on  the  12th  day  of  June,  and 
immediately  commenced  searching  for  George  Corne 
cious,  the  man  who  reported  my  whereabouts  to  Mcll- 
vaino  and  the  soldiers,  thereby  causing  mo  to  be 
wounded  and  expelled  from  Flat  "Woods.  After  search 
ing  two  days  and  two  nights  I  succeeded  in  shooting 


SAMUEL    S.    HILDEBRAND.  59 

ho  was  the  first  man  I  ever  killed ;  a  little  notch 
cut  in  the  stock  of  my  gun  was  made  to  commemorate 
the  deed. 

To  avoid  implicating  my  family  in  any  way  wTith  my 
transactions,  I  satisfied  myself  with  exchanging  words 
with  my  wife  through  a  friend  who  was  thought  by  his 
neighbors  to  be  a  Union  man.  My  family  resided  in  a 
little  cabin  on  Back  creek,  and  my  wife  was  cultivating 
a  garden. 

To  carry  out  the  darling  object  I  had  in  view — that 
of  killing  Firman  Mcllvaine — I  went  to  Flat  river,  and 
after  remaining  several  days,  I  took  a  pone  of  bread 
for  my  rations  and  walked  to  his  farm  on  Big  river 
after  night. 

I  passed  through  his  fields,  but  finding  no  place  where 
harvesting  was  going  on,  I  crossed  Big  river  on  a  fish- 
trap  dam  and  ranged  over  the  Baker  farm  on  the  oppo 
site  side  of  the  river,  about  a  mile  above  Big  river 
Mills,  where  the  Mcllvaine  family  now  resided. 

I  found  where  harvesting  had  just  commenced  in  a 
field  which  formed  the  southwestern  corner  of  the  farm. 
This  field  is  on  the  top  of  a  perpendicular  bluff,  about 
one  hundred  feet  high,  and  is  detached  from  the  main 
farm  by  a  road  leading  from  Ste.  Genevieve  to  Potosi. 

A  portion  of  the  grain  had  already  been  cut  on  the 
western  side  of  the  field,  near  the  woods;  there  I  took 
my  station  in  the  fence  corner,  early  in  the  morning, 
thinking  that  Mcllvaine  would  probably  shock  the 
grain  while  the  negroes  were  cradling.  In  this  I  was 
mistaken,  for  I  saw  him  swinging  his  cradle  in  another 
part  of  the  field,  beyond  the  range  of  my  gun. 


O  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

I  next  attempted  to  crawl  along  the  edge  of  the  Muff 
among  the  stunted  cedars,  but  had  to  abandon  I  lie  at 
tempt  because  the  negroes  stopped  in  the  shade  of  the 
cedars  every  time  they  came  around.  Then  I  went 
back  into  the  woods,  and  passed  down  under  the  bluff, 
along  the  edge  of  the  river,  until  I  got  opposite  the 
place  where  they  were  at  work;  but  I  found  no  place 
where  I  could  ascend  the  high  rock.  1  went  around 
the  lower  end  of  the  blufV,  and  crawled  up  to  the  Held 
on  the  other  side,  but  I  was  at  too  great  a  distance  to 
get  a  shot.  Finally,  I  went  down  to  the  river  and  was 
resting  myself  near  a  large  flat  rock  that  projected  out 
into  the  river,  where  some  persons  had  recently  been 
fishing,  when  suddenly  Firman  Mcllvaine  rode  down 
to  the  river  and  watered  his  horse  at  a  ford  about  sixty 
yards  below  me.  I  tried  to  draw  a  bead  on  him,  but 
the  limb  of  a  tree  prevented  me,  and  when  he  started 
back  he  rode  too  fast  for  my  purpose. 

At  night  I  crept  under  a  projecting  rock  and  slept 
soundly;  but  very  early  in  the  morning  1  ascended  the 
bluff  and  secreted  myself  at  a  convenient  distance  from 
where  they  had  left  off  cradling.  But  1  was  again 
doomed  to  disappointment,  for,  as  the  negroes  were 
cradling,  Mcllvaino  was  shocking  the  grain  in  another 
part  of  the  field. 

In  the  evening,  as  soon  as  they  had  finished  cutting 
the  grain,  all  hands  left,  and  I  did  not  know  where  they 
were.  I  next  stationed  myself  at  a  short  distance  from 
tho  river,  and  watched  for  him  to  water  his  horse  ;  but 
his  father  presently  passed  along  leading  tho  horse  to 
water. 


SAMUEL    S.    IIILDEBRAND.  63 

I  again  slept  under  the  overhanging  rock;  and  on 
the  next  morning  (June  23d)  I  crossed  the  river  on  the 
fish  dam,  and  went  to  tlie  lower  part  of  Mcllvaine's 
farm.  There  I  found  the  negroes  cutting  down  a  field 
of  rye.  They  cut  away  for  several  hours,  until  they 
got  it  all  down  within  one  hundred  yards  of  the  fence, 
hefore  Mcllvaine  made  his  first  round.  On  getting  a 
little  past  me,  he  stopped  to  whet  his  scythe  ;  as  soon 
as  he  had  done  so  he  lowered  the  cradle  to  the  ground 
and  for  a  moment  stood  resting  on  the  handle. 

I  fired,  and  he  fell  dead. 

Nothing  but  a  series  of  wrongs  long  continued  could 
ever  have  induced  me  to  take  the  life  of  that  highly 
accomplished  young  man. 

After  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  while  others  were 
losing  horses,  a  fine  mare  was  stolen  from  him.  The 
theft  was  riot  committed  by  me,  but  my  personal  ene 
mies  probably  succeeded  in  making  him  believe  that  I 
had  committed  the  act. 

He  was  goaded  on  by  evil  advisers  to  take  the  law 
into  his  own  hands ;  my  brother  Frank  was  hung 
without  a  trial,  and  his  body  thrown  into  a  sink-hole, 
to  moulder  like  that  of  a  beast;  my  own  life  had  been 
sought  time  and  again ;  my  wife  and  tender  family 
were  forced  to  pass  through  hardships  and  suffering 
seldom  witnessed  in  the  annals  of  histoiy.  The 
mangled  features  of  my  poor  brother ;  the  pale  face  of 
my  confiding  wife ;  the  tearful  eyes  of  my  fond  chil 
dren — all  would  seem  to  turn  reprovingly  upon  me  in 
my  midnight  dreams,  as  if  demanding  retributive  jus? 


64  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

tico.     My  revenge  was  reluctant  and  long  delayed,  but 
it  came  at  last. 

I  remained  in  the  woods,  near  the  residence  of  a 
friend  for  a  day  or  two,  and  then  I  concluded  to  silence 
Joe  McGahan  and  John  House  before  returning  to  Ar 
kansas.  I  proceeded  to  the  residence  of  the  former, 
who  had  been  very  officious  in  the  Vigilance  mob,  and 
posted  myself  in  some  woods  in  the  field  within  one 
hundred  yards  of  the  house,  just  as  daylight  began  to 
appear.  I  kept  a  vigilant  watch  for  him  all  day,  but 
he  did  not  make  his  appearance  until  it  had  commenced 
getting  dark;  then  he  rode  up  and  went  immediately 
into  his  house.  By  this  time  it  was  too  dark  for  me  to 
shoot  at  such  a  distance.  I  moved  to  the  garden  fence, 
and  in  a  few  minutes  he  made  his  appearance  in  the 
door  with  a  little  child  in  his  arms.  The  fence  pre 
vented  me  from  shooting  him  below  the  child,  and  I 
could  not  shoot  him  in  the  breast  for  fear  of  killing  it. 

He  remained  in  the  door  only  a  minute  or  two,  and 
then  retired  into  the  house;  and  while  I  was  thinking 
the  matter  over,  without  noticing  closely  for  his  reap 
pearance,  I  presently  discovered  him  "riding  off.  I 
went  to  a  thicket  in  his  field  and  slept  until  nearly  day, 
when  I  again  took  my  position  near  the  house,  and 
watched  until  night  again  set  in,  but  fortunately  for 
him  he  did  not  make  his  appearance. 

I  now  went  about  four  miles  to  the  residence  of  John 
House,  selected  a  suitable  place  for  my  camp,  and  slept 
soundly  until  daybreak.  I  watched  closely  all  day,  but 
saw  nothing  of  my  enemy.  Ae  soon  as  it  was  dark  I 
went  back  to  Flat  river,  and  on  the  next  night  I 


SAMUEL   S.    HILDEBRAND.  65 

mounted  my  horse  and  started  back  to  Green  county, 
Arkansas,  without  being  discovered  by  any  one  except 
by  those  friends  whom  I  called  on  for  provisions. 


66  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 


CHAPTEE  VIII. 

Vigilance  mob  drives  his  mother  from  home. — Three  com 
panies  of  troops  sent  to  Big  river. — Captain  Flanche  mur 
ders  Washington  Hildebrand  and  Landusky, — Captain  Esro- 
ger  murders  John  Roan. — Capt.  Adoph  burns  the  Hildebrand 
homestead  and  murders  Henry  Hildebrand. 

I  shall  now  give  a  brief  account  of  the  fresh  enor 
mities  committed  against  the  Hildebrand  family.  The 
same  vindictive  policy  inaugurated  by  the  Vigilance 
mob  was  still  pursued  by  them  until  they  succeeded,  by 
misrepresentation,  in  obtaining  the  assistance  of  the 
State  and  Federal  troops  for  the  accomplishment  of 
their  designs. 

A  Dutch  company,  stationed  at  North  Big  Eiver 
Uridge,  under  Capt.  Esroger ;  a  Dutch  company  sta 
tioned  at  Cadet,  under  Capt.  Adolph,  and  a  French 
company  stationed  at  the  Iron  Mountain,  under  Capt. 
Flanche,  were  all  sent  to  Big  River  to  crush  out  the 
Hildebrand  family. 

Emboldened  by  their  success  in  obtaining  troops, 
the  Yigilance  mob  marched  boldly  up  to  the  Hilde 
brand  homestead  and  notified  my  mother,  whom,  they 
found  reading  her  Bible,  that  she  must  immediately 
leave  the  county,  for  it  was  their  intention  to  burn  her 
house  and  destroy  all  her  property. 

My  mother  was  a  true  Christian  ;  she  was  kind  and 
affectionate  to  everybody;  her  hand  was  always  ready 


SAMUEL    S.    HILDEBRAND.  G7 

t  j  relieve  the  distressed,  and  smooth  the  pillow  for  the 
afflicted;  the  last  sight  seen  upon  earth  by  eyes  swim 
ming  in  death  has  often  been  the  pitying  face  of  my 
mother,  as  she  hovered  over  the  bed  of  sickness. 

I  appeal  to  all  her  neighbors — I  appeal  to  everybody 
who  knew  her — to  say  whether  my  mother  ever  had  a 
.superior  in  this  respect. 

When  ordered  to  leave  her  cherished  home,  to  leave 
the  house  built  by  her  departed  husband,  to  leave  the 
quiet  homestead  where  she  had  brought  up  a  largo  fam 
ily,  and  where  every  object  was  rendered  dear  by  a 
thousand  sweet  associations  that  clung  to  her  memory, 
she  turned  her  mind  inwardly,  but  found  nothing  there 
to  reproach  her;  then  to  her  God  she  silently  commit 
ted  herself. 

She  hastily  took  her  Bible  and  one  bed  from  the 
house — but  nothing  more.  She  had  arrangements  made 
to  have  her  bed  taken  to  the  house  of  her  brother, 
Harvey  McKee,  living  on  Dry  Creek,  in  Jefferson 
county,  distant  about  thirty  five  miles.  Then,  tak 
ing  her  family  Bible  in  her  arms,  she  burst  into  a 
flood  of  tears,  walked  slowly  out  of  the  little  gate, 
and  left  her  home  forever! 

I  will  here  state  that  I  was  the  only  one  of  the 
Hildebrand  family  who  espoused  the  Rebel  cause. 
After  the  murder  of  my  brother  Frank,  I  had  but 
three  brothers  left :  William,  Washington  and  Henry 
William  joined  the  Union  army  and  fought  until  the 
close  of  the  war.  Washington  took  no  part  in  the 
war,  neither  directly  nor  indirectly.  Never,  per 
haps,  was  there  a  more  peaceable,  quiet  and  law- 


68  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

abiding  citizen  than  he  was ;  he  never  spoke  a  word 
that  could  be  construed  into  a  sympathy  for  the 
Southern  cause,  and  I  defy  any  man  to  produce  the 
least  evidence  against  his  loyalty,  either  in  word  or, 
act.  While  the  war  was  raging,  he  paid  no  atten 
tion  to  it  whatever,  but  was  busily  engaged  in  lead 
mining  in  the  St.  Joseph  Lead  Mines,  three  miles 
from  Big  River  Mills,  and  about  six  miles  from  the 
old  homestead.  In  partnership  with  him  was  a 
young  man  by  the  name  of  Landusky,  a  kind,  indus 
trious,  inoffensive  man,  whose  loyalty  had  never 
once  been  doubted.  My  sister  Mary  was  his  affi 
anced  bride,  but  her  death  prevented  the  marriage. 

My  brother  Henry  was  a  mere  boy,  only  thirteen 
years  of  age.  Of  course  he  was  too  young  to  have 
any  political  principles ;  he  was  never  accused  of 
being  a  Rebel;  no  accusation  of  any  kind  had  ever 
been  made  against  him ;  he  was  peaceable  and  quiet, 
and,  like  a  good  boy,  he  was  living  with  his  mother, 
and  doing  the  best  he  could  toward  supporting  her. 
True,  he  was  very  young  to  have  the  charge  of  such 
a  farm,  but  he  was  a  remarkable  boy.  Turning  a 
deaf  ear  to  all  the  rumors  and  excitements  around 
him,  he  industriously  applied  himself  to  the  accom 
plishment  of  one  object,  that  of  taking  care  of  his 
mother. 

On  the  6th  day  of  July,  1862,  while  my  brother 
Washington  and  Mr.  Landusky  were  working  in  a 
drift  underground,  Capt.  Flanche  and  his  company 
of  cavalry  called  a  halt  at  the  mine,  and  ordered 
them  to  come  up;  which  they  did  immediately. 


SAMUEL   B<   HILDEBKAND.  7l 

No  questions  were  asked  them,  and  no  explana* 
tions  were  given.  Flanche  merely  ordered  them  to 
walk  off  a  few  steps  toward  a  tree,  which  they  did ; 
he  then  gave  the  word  "fire  1 "  and  the  whole  com 
pany  fired  at  them,  literally  tearing  them  to  pieces  1 

I  would  ask  the  enlightened  world  if  there  ever 
was  committed  a  more  diabolical  deed  ?  If,  in  all 
the  annals  of  cruelty,  or  in  the  world's  wide  history, 
a  murder  more  cold-blooded  and  cruel  could  be 
found  ? 

A  citizen  who  happened  to  be  present  ventured 
to  ask  in  astonishment  why  this  was  done  ;  to  which 
Flanche  merely  replied,  as  he  rode  off,  "they  bees 
the  friends  of  Sam  Hildebrass!" 

It  was  now  Capt.  Esroger's  time  to  commit  some 
deed  of  atrocity,  to  place  himself  on  an  equality 
with  Capt.  Flanche  ;  so  after  a  moment's  reflection, 
he  concluded  that  the  murder  of  my  uncle,  John 
Koan,  would  be  sufficient  to  place  his  brutality  be 
yond  all  question. 

John  Roan  was  a  man  about  fifty  years  of  age, 
was  proverbial  for  his  honesty,  always  paid  his  debts, 
and  kept  himself  entirely  aloof  from  either  side 
during  the  war,  but  against  his  loyalty  nothing  had 
ever  been  produced,  or  even  attempted. 

One  of  his  sons  was  in  the  Union  army,  and  an 
other  was  a  Rebel. 

Being  my  uncle,  and  the  father  of  Allen  Roan, 
however,  was  a  sufficient  pretext  for  the  display  of 
military  brutality. 

His  house  was  situated  about  three  miles  from 


72  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

St.  Joseph  Lead  Mines  and  about  the  same  distance 
from  the  Hildebrand  estate. 

On  the  10th  day  of  July,  Capt.  Esroger  and  his 
company  rode  up  to  his  house,  and.  the  old  man 
came  out  onto  the  porch,  with  his  white  locks 
streaming  in  the  wind,  but  never  once  did  he  dream 
of  treachery.  Esroger  told  him  that  he"vosone 
tarn  prisoner,"  and  detailed  six  men  to  guard  him 
and  to  march  along  slowly  until  they  should  get 
behind. 

They  did  so  until  they  got  about  a  mile  from  his 
house ;  there  they  made  him  step  off  six  paces,  and 
while  his  eyes  were  turned  towards  Heaven,  and 
his  hands  were  slightly  raised  in  the  attitude  of 
prayer,  the  fatal  word  "  fire"  was  given,  and  he  fell 
to  the  earth  a  mangled  corpse. 

There  was  still  another  actor  in  this  bloody  trage 
dy,  who  had  to  tax  his  ingenuity  to  the  utmost  to 
select  a  part  in  which  to  out  do,  if  possible,  the  acts 
of  atrocity  committed  by  the  others.  This  was  Capt. 
Adolph. 

On  the  23rd  day  of  July,  Capt.  Adolph  and  his 
company  with  an  intermixture  of  the  Vigilance  mob, 
went  to  my  mother's  house — the  Hildebrand  home 
stead — for  the  purpose  of  burning  it  up.  The  house 
was  two  stories  high,  built  of  nice  cut  stone,  and 
well  finished  within,  making  it  altogether  one  of  the 
best  houses  in  the  county. 

The  soldiers  proceeded  to  break  down  the  picket 
fence,  and  to  pitch  it  into  the  house  for  kindling. 
They  refused  to  let  anything  be  taken  out  of  the 


SAMUEL   S.    IIILDEBRAND.  73 

house,  being  determined  to  burn  up  the  furniture, 
clothing,  bedding,  provisions,  and  everything  else 
connected  with  it.. 

All  things  being  now  ready,  the  house  was  set 
on  fire  within,  and  the  flames  spread  rapidly  from 
room  to  room,  then  through  the  upper  floor,  and  fi 
nally  out  through  the  roof.  The  house,  with  all  the 
outer  building  was  soon  wrapped  in  a  sheet  of  fire. 

My  little  brother  Henry  and  an  orphan  boy  about 
fourteen  years  of  age,  whom  my  mother  had  hired 
to  assist  Henry  in  cultivating  the  farm,  were  present 
at  the  conflagration  and  stood  looking  on  in  mute 
astonishment.  Esroger  ordered  brother  Henry  to 
leave,  but  whether  he  knew  it  was  their  intention 
to  shoot  him  after  getting  him  a  short  distance  from 
the  house,  as  was  their  custom,  it  is  impossible  for 
me  to  say.  Probably  feeling  an  inward  conscious 
ness  of  never  having  committed  an  act  to  which 
they  could  take  exceptions,  he  did  not  think  that 
they  would  persist  in  making  him  go ;  so  he  re 
mained  and  silently  gazed  at  the  burning  house, 
which  was  the  only  home  he  had  ever  known. 

When  ordered  again  to  leave,  he  seemed  to  be 
stupefied  with  wonder  at  the  enormity  of  the  scene 
before  him.  Franklin  Murphy  being  present  told 
him  it  was  best  to  leave ;  so  he  mounted  his  horse 
and  started,  but  before  he  got  two  hundred  yards 
from  the  house,  he  was  shot  and  he  dropped  dead 
from  the  horse.  Thus  perished  the  poor  innocent 
boy,  who  could  not  be  induced  to  believe  that  the 
men  were  base  enough  to  kill  him,  innocent  and  in- 


74  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

offensive  as  he  was.  But  alas  I  how  greatly  was  lie 
mistaken  in  them ! 

They  next  burned  the  large  frame  barn,  also  the 
different  cribs  and  stables  on  the  premises;  then 
taking  the  orphan  boy  as  a  prisoner  they  left. 

Some  neighbors,  a  few  days  afterwards  found  the 
body  of  my  little  brother  and  buried  him. 

This  was  the  crowning  act  of  Federal  barbarity 
toward  me  and  the  Hildebrand  family,  instigated  by 
the  low  cunning  of  the  infamous  Vigilance  mob. 

I  make  no  apology  to  mankind  for  my  acts  of  re 
taliation  ;  I  make  no  whining  appeal  to  the  world 
for  sympathy.  I  sought  revenge  and  I  found  it ;  the 
key  of  hell  was  not  suffered  to  rust  in  the  lock  while 
I  was  on  the  war  path. 

I  pity  the  poor  miserable,  sniveling  creature  who 
would  tamely  have  submitted  to  it  all. 

Such  a  man  would  be  so  low  in  the  scale  of  hu 
man  conception;  so  far  beneath  the  lowest  grade  of 
humanity,  that  the  head  even  of  an  Indian  would 
grow  dizzy  in  looking  down  upon  him. 


SAMUEL   S.    HILDEBRAND.  75 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Trip  with  Burlap  and  Cato. — Killed  a  Spy  near  Bloomfield. — 
Visits  his  Mother  on  Dry  Creek. — Interview  with  his  Uncle. — 
Sees  the  burning  of  the  homestead  at  a  distance. 

As  yet,  I  had  heard  nothing  about  the  atrocities 
committed  against  the  remaining  members  of  the 
Hildebrand  family;  but  in  order  to  stir  up  my  old 
enemies  in  that-quarter,  I  selected  two  good  men, 
John  Burlap  and  James  Cato,  to  accompany  me  in 
another  excursion  to  St.  Francois  county,  Missouri. 

They,  too,  had  been  badly  treated  at  the  outbreak 
of  the  war,  and  had  several  grievances  to  redress, 
for  which  purpose  I  promised  them  my  future  aid. 
We  procured  Federal  uniforms,  and  started  late  in 
the  afternoon  of  July  13th,  1862;  but  on  arriving  at 
St.  Francis  river,  we  found  it  out  of  its  banks  from 
the  heavy  rains  thftt  had  fallen  the  day  previous. 

My  comrades  were  rather  reluctant  about  ventur 
ing  into  the  turbid  stream  amid  the  floating  drift 
wood;  but  I  had  ever  been  impressed  with  the  truth 
of  the  old  adage,  that  it  was  "bad  luck  to  turn 
back."  I  plunged  my  horse  into  the  stream  and 
made  the  opposite  shore  without  much  difficulty.  I 
was  followed  by  Burlap  and  Cato,  who  got  across 
safely,  but  were  somewhat  scratched  by  the  drift 
wood.  We  built  a  fire,  dried  our  clothes,  took  a 


76  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

"snort"  from  our  black  bottle,  and  camped  until 
morning. 

Nothing  of  interest  occurred  until  we  reached  the 
vicinity  of  Bloomfield,  in  Stoddard  county,  Missouri, 
when  we  met  a  man  in  citizen's  dress,  whom  we  ac 
costed  in  a  very  familiar  manner,  asking  him  if  there 
were  any  Rebels  in  that  vicinity.  He  stated  that 
there  was  a  party  of  Rebels  in  Bloomfield,  and  that 
we  had  better  make  our  way  back  to  Greenville  to 
the  command,  otherwise  we  would  be  sure  to  fall 
into  their  hands.  He  stated  that  he  had  been  with 
them  all  day,  pretending  that  he  wanted  to  enlist ; 
that  he  had  learned  all  about  their  plans,  and 
thought  that  about  to-morrow  night  they  would  all 
be  taken  in.  I  inquired  if  they  had  not  suspicioned 
him  as  a  spy  ?  He  answered  that  they  had  not ; 
that  he  had  completely  deceived  them.  I  then 
asked  him  if  he  did  not  want  to  ride  behind  me  and 
my  companions,  by  turns,  until  we  reached  Green 
ville  ?  He  signified  his  assent  by  springing  up  be 
hind  me.  I  let  him  ride  about  two  miles,  but  not 
exactly  in  the  direction  of  Greenville,  for  I  told  him 
that  I  was  aiming  to  strike  a  certain  cross  road, 
which  seemed  to  satisfy  his  mind.  He  had  much  to 
tell  us  about  his  exploits  as  a  spy,  and  that  he  had 
learned  the  names  of  all  the  Rebels  in  Greenville 
and  Fredericktown.  By  this  time  we  had  enough. 
I  told  him  I  was  Sam  Hildebrand,  knocked  him  off 
my  horse,  and  then  shot  him. 

I  felt  no  compunction  of  conscience  for  having 
ended  the  days  of  such  a  scoundrel.    A  little  notch 


SAMUEL   S.    HILDEBRAND.  77 

underneath  the  stock  of  old  "  Kill-devil"  was  made, 
to  indicate  the  probability  that  he  would  fail  to  re 
port. 

On  the  rest  of  our  trip  we  traveled  altogether  in 
the*  night,  and  avoided  the  commission  of  any  act 
that  would  be  likely  to  create  a  disturbance.  We 
arrived  safely  at  the  house  of  my  brother-in  law,  on 
Flat  river,  who  lives  within  ten  miles  of  the  Hilde- 
brand  homestead. 

Here,  for  the  first  time,  I  heard  of  the  murder  of 
my  brother  Washington,  also  that  of  my  uncle,  John 
Roan.  Mother's  house  had  not  yet  been  burned, 
but  she  had  been  peremptorily  driven  from  it,  and 
had  sought  refuge  with  her  brother,  in  Jefferson 
county.  The  country  was  full  of  soldiers,  and  the 
Vigilance  mob  were  in  their  glory.  Their  deeds 
would  blacken  the  name  of  John  A.  Murrel,  the 
great  land  pirate  of  America,  for  he  never  robbed  a 
lady,  nor  took  the  bread  from  orphan  children; 
while  they  unblushingly  did  both. 

On  learning  these  particulars,  I  determined  to  go 
to  Dry  Creek  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  my  mother, 
although  the  soldiers  were  scouring  the  country  in 
every  direction  for  fifty  miles  for  my  destruction. 
We  started  at  night,  but  having  to  travel,  a  circuit 
ous  route,  daylight  overtook  us  when  within  six 
miles  of  my  uncle's.  We  made  a  circuit,  as  was  my 
custom,  around  a  hillside,  and  then  camped  in  such 
a  position  that  we  would  be  close  to  our  pursuers 
for  half  an  hour  before  they  could  find  us. 

My  companions  took  a  nap  while  I  kept  watch. 


78  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

They  had  not  been  asleep  long  before  I  discovered 
a  party  of  men  winding  their  way  slowly  in  the 
semi-circle  we  had  made.  There  were  ten  of  them, 
all  dressed  in  Federal  uniform.  I  awakened  my 
companions,  and  they  took  a  peep  at  them  as  they 
were  slowly  tracking  us,  at  a  distance  of  three  hun 
dred  yards.  We  could  hardly  refrain  from  making 
war  upon  them,  the  chances  being  so  good  for  game 
and  a  little  fun,  but  my  object  was  to  see  my 
mother ;  so  we  let  them  pass  on  to  the  place  where 
our  tracks  would  lead  them  out  of  sight  for  a  few 
minutes,  then  we  mounted  our  horses  and  rode  on 
to  another  ridge,  making  a  circuit  as  before,  and 
camping  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  our  first  am 
bush.  On  coming  to  that  place,  the  Federals  struck 
off  in  another  direction,  probably  finding  our  tracks 
a  little  too  fresh  for  their  safety. 

When  night  came,  we  made  our  way  cautiously 
through  the  woods  to  within  a  few  hundred  yards  of 
my  uncle's  house.  I  dismounted,  and  leaving  my 
horse  with  my  comrades,  approached  the  house  care 
fully,  and  climbed  upon  a  bee-gum  to  peep  through 
the  window.  I  discovered  that  there  were  two 
strange  men  in  the  room,  and  I  thought  I  got  a 
glimpse  of  another  man  around  in  a  corner;  but  as 
I  leaned  a  little  to  one  side  to  get  a  better  view,  my 
bee-gum  tilted  over,  and  I  fell  with  a  desperate 
crash  on  a  pile  of  clapboards.  I  got  up  in  some 
what  of  a  hurry,  and,  at  about  three  bounds,  cleared 
the  picket  fence,  and  deposited  myself  in  the  corner 
of  the  garden  to  await  the  result. 


SAMUEL   S.    IIILDEBRAND.  TO 

The  noise,  of  course,  aroused  the  inmates  of  the 
house,  and  they  were  soon  out  with  a  light,  but  with 
no  utensils  of  war  except  a  short  double-barreled 
shot-gun,  in  the  hands  of  my  uncle.  He  inspected 
the  damage  done  to  his  favorite  bee-standT  and 
breathed  out  some  rough  threats  against  the  villains 
who  had  attempted  to  steal  his  honey.  After  order 
ing  his  family  and  the  two  strangers  back  into  the 
house,  he  posted  himself  in  a  fence  corner  about 
thirty  yards  off,  for  the  purpose  of  waging  war 
against  the  offenders,  should  they  attempt  to  renew 
the  attack. 

The  night  not  being  very  dark,  I  was  fearful  that 
if  I  attempted  to  climb  over  the  picket  fence,  the 
old  man  might  pepper  me  with  shot.  So  I  moved 
myself  cautiously  around  to  the  back  part  of  the 
garden,  and  found  an  opening  where  a  picket  was 
missing.  Through  this  aperture  I  succeeded  in 
squeezing  myself,  and  then  crawled  around  to  the 
rail  fence  where  my  uncle  was,  until  I  got  within 
two  panels  of  the  old  man,  when  I  ventured  to  call 
him  by  name,  in  a  very  low  tone.  He  knew  my 
voice,  and  said :  "  Is  that  you,  Sam  ? "  My  answer  in 
the  affirmative  brought  him  to  where  I  was,  and  al 
though  the  fence  was  between  us,  we  took  a  hearty 
shake  of  the  hand  through  a  crack.  He  told  me 
that  the  two  men  in  the  house  were  Union  neigh 
bors,  who  came  over  to  tell  him  that  the  trail  of  a 
band  of  bushwhackers  had  been  discovered  about 
six  miles  from  there,  and  that  on  to-morrow  the 
whole  country  would  be  out  in  search  of  them.  He 


80  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

told  me  to  go  back  until  his  neighbors  took  their 
leave,  and  then  to  come  in  and  see  my  mother,  who 
was  well,  but  grieving  continually  about  her  son 


I  fell  back  to  my  companions,  reported  progress, 
and  again  took  my  stand  in  the  fence  corner.  As 
soon  as  the  two  neighbors  were  gone,  my  uncle 
made  known  to  my  mother,  and  to  his  wife  and 
daughters,  the  cause  of  the  disturbance  ;  the  younger 
members  of  the  family  having  retired  early  in  the 
night,  were  all  fast  asleep.  As  soon  as  my  uncle 
thought  it  prudent  to  do  so,  he  came  out  and  invited 
us  in.  Although  my  mother  had  received  the  news 
of  my  visit  with  a  quiet  composure,  yet,  on  my  ap 
proach,  she  arose  silently  and  started  toward  me 
with  a  firm  step,  but  in  a  moment  she  tottered  and 
would  have  fallen,  but  I  caught  her  in  my  arms  ; 
she  lay  with  her  head  on  my  bosom  for  some  min 
utes,  weeping  like  a  child,  and  I  must  confess  that 
now,  for  the  first  time  since  I  was  a  boy,  I  could  not 
restrain  my  tears.  My  mother  broke  the  silence  by 
uttering,  in  broken  sentences:  "Oh,  my  dear  son! 
Have  you  indeed  come  to  see  your  mother  ?  I 
thought  I  would  go  down  with  sorrow  to  my  grave, 
as  I  never  expected  to  see  you  again  on  earth!" 
How  my  manhood  and  my  iron  will  left  me  at  that 
moment  !  How  gladly  would  I  have  left  war  and 
revenge  to  the  beasts  of  the  forest,  and  secreted 
myself  in  some  quiet  corner  of  the  earth,  that  there, 
with  my  mother  and  my  family,  I  might  once  more 
take  delight  in  the  sweet  songs  of  birds,  and  in  the 


SAMUEL    S.    HILDEBRAND.  81 

tranquil  scenes  of  life,  like  those  I  enjoyed  in  my 
younger  days! 

My  mother  became  more  tranquil,  and  we  talked 
over  matters  with  a  great  deal  of  satisfaction  ;  and 
my  uncle,  to  divert  our  minds  from  a  subject  too 
serious,  occasionally  poked  fun  at  me,  by  accusing 
me  of  trying  to  steal  his  bee-gum,  in  which  he  was 
joined  by  my  two  comrades.  His  two  daughters 
were  flying  around  in  the  kitchen,  and  presently 
announced  a  supper  for  us  all.  We  enjoyed  our 
selves  finely  until  two  o'clock  in  the  night>  at  which 
time  we  were  compelled  to  leave,  in  order  to  secure 
a  safe  retreat  from  the  vigilant  search  to  be  made 
for  us  during  the  following  day. 

On  starting,  we  rode  back  on  our  old  trail  half  a 
mile,  to  where  we  had  crossed  a  small  creek,  down 
which  we  rode,  keeping  all  the  time  in  the  water, 
for  about  three  miles,  to  a  public  road  leading  south, 
which  we  followed  about  six  miles  ;  then,  on  com 
ing  to  a  rocky  place  where  our  horses  would  make 
no  tracks,  we  left  the  road  at  right  angles  and  trav 
eled  in  the  woods  about  two  miles  ;  here  we  made  a 
semi-circle  around  a  hill,  and  camped  in  a  command 
ing  position.  My  comrades  did  picket  duty  while 
I  slept  nearly  all  day.  At  night  we  went  to  a  friend 
who  lived  near  my  old  residence,  and  from  him  we 
learned  that  our  trail  had  been  discovered  on  our 
way  up,  that  the  whole  militia  force,  composed  al 
most  exclusively  of  my  old  enemies,  together  with 
some  Dutch  regulars,  were  quartered  at  Big  Kiver 
Mills ;  that  the  woods  were  being  constantly  scoured ; 


82  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

that  each  ford  on  Big  river  was  guarded  night  and 
day,  and  that  they  considered  rny  escape  impossible. 

Before  the  approach  of  daylight  we  secreted  our 
horses  in  a  deep  ravine,  covered  with  brush  and 
briars,  and  then  hid  ourselves  underneath  a  shelving 
rock  near  the  top  of  a  high  bluff,  from  which,  at  a 
long  distance,  we  had  a  view  of  my  mother's  house 
— the  homestead  of  the  Hildebrand  family.  We  re 
mained  here  all  day,  during  which  time  the  house 
was  surrounded  by  soldiers,  how  many  I  could  not 
tell,  but  they  seemed  to  fill  the  yard  and  the  adjoin 
ing  inclosures.  Presently  I  saw  a  dense  column  of 
smoke  arise  from  the  house,  which  told  me  too 
plainly  that  the  Vandals  were  burning  up  the  home 
of  my  childhood. 

The  flames  presently  burst  forth  through  the  roof 
and  lapped  out  their  long,  fiery  tongues  at  every 
window.  The  roof  fell  in,  and  all  that  remained  of 
that  superb  house  was  the  blackened  walls  of  mas 
sive  stone. 

Gladly  would  I  have  thrown  myself  among  those 
Yandals,  and  fought  them  while  I  had  a  drop  of 
blood  remaining;  but  it  would  have  been  madness, 
for  I  would  have  been  killed  too  soon,  and  my  re 
venge  would  have  been  ended,  while  my  enemies 
would  still  live  to  enjoy  their  pillage. 

Immediately  after  dark  we  returned  to  our  horses 
and  commenced  our  retreat  to  Arkansas;  but  in 
stead  of  going  south  we  traveled  west  about  twenty 
miles,  until  we  struck  on  a  creek  called  Forche  a? 
Renault, in  Washington  county ;  then  turning  south, 


SAMUEL    S.    HILDEBRAXD.  83 

we  traveled  over  the  wild  pine  hills  west  from  Po- 
tosi,  and  camped  in  a  secure  place  between  Cale 
donia  and  Webster. 

We  started  on  in  the  evening,  and  just  before 
sunset  made  a  raid  on  a  store,  getting  all  we  wanted, 
including  several  bottles  of  "burst-head."  We 
traveled  mostly  in  the  night,  followed  Black  river 
down  to  Current  river,  crossed  at  Carter's  Ferry,  and 
made  our  way  safely  to  Green  county,  Arkansas. 


84  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 


CHAPTER  X. 

Trip  with  two  men. — Killed  Stokes  for  informing  on  him. — 
Secreted  in  a  cave  on  Big  river. — Vows  of  vengeance. — 
Watched  for  McGahan. — Tom  Haile  pleads  for  Franklin 
Murphy. — Tongue-lashed  and  whipped  out  by  a  Woman. 

After  remaining  a  few  days  at  headquarters  I 
commenced  making  preparations  for  another  trip 
against  my  enemies  on  Big  river.  I  was  yet 
ignorant  of  the  murder  of  my  brother  Henry,  and 
knew  nothing  about  the  burning  of  my  mother's 
house,  except  what  I  saw  at  the  distance  of  a  mile, 
a  few  hours  before  I  started  back  to  Arkansas.  I 
was  now  fully  determined  to  use  the  same  weapons 
upon  some  of  my  enemies,  and  to  retaliate  by  any 
and  all  means  placed  in  my  power.  I  told  the  boys 
my  plan.  Among  those  who  were  present  was 
Thomas  Haile,  or  "devilish  Tom",  as  he  was  called, 
and  as  usual,  he  was  spinning  some  of  his  laughable 
yarns ;  but  when  I  spoke  the  name  of  Franklin 
Murphy  as  probably  connected  with  the  house 
burning,  he  stopped  short  in  his  conversation,  and 
after  a  moment's  reflection  he  proposed  to  go  with 
me  to  see  some  of  his  old  friends.  To  this  I  readily 
consented,  and  after  selecting  another  man,  we 
started  on  our  way.  "We  passed  through  Stoddard 
and  then  into  Wayne  county  after  a  man  by  name 
of  Stokes.  Ho  had  fed  me  on  my  previous  trips,  inr 


SAMUEL   S.    HILDEBRAND.  85 

ducing  me  to  believe  that  he  was  a  substantial 
Southern  man ;  I  learned  shortly  afterwards  that  he 
was  laying  plans  for  my  capture,  and  had,  more  than 
once,  put  the  Federals  on  my  trail.  Notwithstand 
ing  I  had  these  statements  from  good  authority,  I 
was  unwilling  to  take  his  life  until  I  knew  to  my 
own  certain  knowledge  that  he  was  guilty.  I  did 
not  wish  to  fall  into  the  error,  so  common  among 
the  Federals,  of  killing  an  innocent  man  to  gratify 
the  personal  enmity  of  some  informer. 

Just  after  dark  I  went  to  his  house  alone,  he 
greeted  me  in  a  very  cordial  manner  and  remarked  : 

"  Well,  Mr.  Hildebrand,  I'm  glad  to  see  you— hope 
you  are  well — and  are  yet  too  smart  for  the  Feds." 

"Are  there  any  Feds  in  Greenville  ?  " 

"  None,  sir,  none  at  all ;  I  was  there  to-day ;  the 
place  is  entirely  clear  of  the  scamps.  By  the  way^ 
Mr.  Hildebrand,  are  you  alone  ? " 

"  Oh  yes  ;  I  am  taking  this  trip  by  myself." 

"Glad  to  assist  you,  sir;  you  must  stay  with  me 
to-night ;  I'll  hide  you  to-morrow  in  a  safe  place ; 
can  go  on  to-morrow  night  if  you  like ;  would  like 
for  you  to  stay  longer." 

I  thanked  him  for  his  proffered  assistance,  but 
told  him  that  as  I  had  troubled  him  so  often,  I  would 
go  to  a  neighbor's  about  a  mile  off  and  stay  until 
the  next  night.  I  went  back  a  short  distance  to 
where  my  men  were  and  waited  about  an  hour. 

My  two  men  after  putting  on  the  Federal  uniform, 
rode  around  the  place  and  approached  the  house 
from  another  direction ;  they  rode  up  in  a  great 


86  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

hurry  and  called  Mr.  Stokes  out.  Tom  Haile  in  a 
very  confidential  tone  commenced : 

"  Well  sir !  we  are  on  the  hot  track  of  Sam  Hilde- 
brand !  he  is  here  again ;  he  robbed  a  man  down  on 
the  Greenville  road,  five  miles  below  here,  about 
sunset ;  he  came  in  this  direction,  and  we  concluded 
to  ride  down  to  your  house  thinking  that  you  might 
have  seen  or  heard  something  of  him." 

"  I  reckon  I  have,  by  George !  Sam  Hildebrand 
was  here  not  more  than  an  hour  ago,  and  I  tried  to 
detain  him ;  he  was  alone  and  said  he  was  going  to 
stay  until  to-morrow  night  at  a  certain  house ;  I 
know  the  place ;  hold  on  a  minute  !  I'll  get  my  gun 
and  coat  and  will  go  with  you — we've  got  him  this 
time,  sure ! " 

"All  right," said  Tom,  "come  along;  we  are  always 
glad  to  meet  a  man  of  your  stripe." 

He  marched  along  with  the  boys  until  they  came 
to  where  I  was  waiting  for  them ;  Stokes  had  for 
gotten  to  ask  many  questions,  but  on  coming  up  to 
me  in  the  dim  moonlight  he  asked,  "  how  many  men 
have  you  ? "  one  of  my  men  answered  "  twelve. " 
He  at  once  began  laying  plans  for  my  capture,  and 
related  what  he  had  done  on  previous  occasions  "to 
capture  Sam  Hildebrand,  but  that  Sam  was  too 
sharp  for  him."  When  I  thought  that  he  had  said 
enough  I  stopped  him  with  the  remark — "  I  am  Sam 
Hildebrand  myself! "  and  emptied  old  "  Kill-devil " 
into  his  bosom. 

We  then  proceeded  on,  traveling  altogether  in  the 
night,  until  about  day-break ;  one  morning  we  got 


SAMUEL    S.    HILDEBRAND.  87 

near  the  ruins  of  the  old  Hildebrand  homestead,  and 
called  at  the  house  of  a  friend.  Knowing  that  we 
were  in  an  enemy's  country  and  liable  to  be  trailed, 
we  could  not  sleep,  nor  could  we  travel  in  the  day 
time,  considering  the  fact  that  if  our  enemies  got 
after  us  we  would  have  to  run  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  to  get  out  of  their  lines,  and  that  the 
government  had  no  less  than  four  thousand  men  in 
active  employment  all  the  time  for  the  especial  pur 
pose  of  capturing  me.  We  secreted  our  horses  in  a 
thicket  under  a  bluff  and  entered  a  cave  near  by, 
which  was  afterwards  called  by  my  name.  Our 
friend  remained  in  the  cave  a  few  minutes  with  us, 
and  it  was  from  him  I  learned  the  particulars  of  the 
atrocities  committed  by  the  Federal  troops,  in  the 
murder  of  my  poor  innocent  brother  Henry. 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  describe  my  feelings,  when 
the  truth  flashed  across  my  mind  that  all  my  "broth 
ers  had  been  slain  in  cold  blood — Frank,  first,  and 
now  the  other  two — leaving  me  not  a  brother  upon 
earth  except  my  brother  William,  who  was  in  the 
Federal  army,  but  whose  well  known  loyalty  was 
not  sufficient  to  shield  his  neutral  brothers  from  an 
indiscriminate  butchery.  For  several  hours  I  re 
mained  quietly  in  the  cave,  studying  the  matter 
over  ;  but  finally  my  mind  was  made  up.  I  deter 
mined  to  sell  my  life  as  dearly  as  possible,  and  from 
that  moment  wage  a  war  of  fire  and  blood  against 
my  persecutors,  while  one  should  last,  or  until  I  was 
numbered  with  the  dead. 

I    hastily  gathered    my   arms  ;     only   one   word 


88  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

escaped  my  lips:  "Revenge!"  sounded  and  re 
echoed  from  the  deepest  recesses  of  the  cavern,  and 
with  one  wild  rush  I  made  for  the  mouth  of  the 
cave ;  but  my  two  men  happening  to  be  there, 
sprang  to  their  feet  and  choked  up  the  passage ;  but 
near  it  was  another  outlet — I  dashed  through  it,  and 
down  the  steep  declivity  I  hastily  made  my  way, 
and  mounted  my  horse.  But  Haile  was  close  after 
me,  and  before  I  could  pass  around  a  fallen  tree  he 
had  my  horse  by  the  bridle. 

uHold  on,  Sam!  Don't  be  a  fool.  If  you  are 
going  to  throw  your  life  away,  you  cannot  expect  to 
kill  a  dozen;  if  you  take  your  own  time  you  may 
kill  a  thousand !  If  I  go  back  without  you,  what 
could  I  tell  your  wife  and  children  ?  Come,  Sam, 
you  must  not  forget  your  duty  to  them.  See  how 
they  have  clung  to  you!  'Light  now,  and  go  with 
me  to  the  cave." 

I  have  but  a  faint  recollection  of  going  back  to 
our  retreat;  but  when  I  awoke  it  was  nearly  sunset, 
and  Tom  soon  had  me  laughing  in  spite  of  myself. 

When  night  came  we  moved  our  position  about 
five  miles,  to  the  residence  of  William  Patton,  as  he 
was  a  man  whom  I  particularly  wanted ;  but  we 
we  were  unsuccessful ;  he  was  at  home  when  we 
first  went  there,  but  by  some  means  he  succeeded 
in  eluding  our  grasp.  We  left  there,  and  before  day 
light  we  had  secreted  our  horses  in  a  thicket  on 
Turkey  Run,  a  small  creek  emptying  into  Big  river 
above  Addison  Murphy's,  and  had  stationed  our 
selves  near  the  residence  of  Joe  McGahan,  on  the 


SAMUEL    S.    IllLDEBRAND.  89 

different  roads  leading  to  his  house.  About  eight 
o'clock  in  the  morning  I  concluded  that  it  was  fruit 
less  to  watch  for  him  any  longer;  so  I  proposed  to 
repair  to  Franklin  Murphy's  residence,  which  was 
not  more  than  a  mile  from  where  we  were  ;  but 
Tom  suggested  that  we  must  now  return  to  our 
horses  and  consult  as  to  our  future  movements. 

We  found  our  horses  all  right ;  but  when  I  ex 
pressed  a  desire  to  stir  up  Franklin  Murphy  for 
being  present  at  the  burning  of  my  mother's  house, 
and  several  other  little  incidents  that  led  me  to 
think  strangely  of  his  conduct,  Tom  Haile  replied: 

"I  do  not  believe  that  he  sanctioned,  in  any  man 
ner,  the  outrages  of  which  you  speak;  he  could  not 
rescue  your  brother  Frank  from  the  hands  of  a  mob 
who  seemed  to  have  the  sanction  of  public  opinion; 
he  could  not  prevent  an  army  of  soldiers,  acting 
under  the  command  of  another  man,  from  burning 
the  house,  nor  from  killing  your  brother  Henry.  Once 
for  all,  let  me  tell  you  that  it  will  never  do  for  you 
to  attempt  to  harm  that  man.  He  is  a  member  of  a 
certain  Order,  that  dates  back  for  thousands  of 
years ;  the  members  are  bound  together  by  an  ob 
ligation  to  watch  over  each  other's  interests,  and  to 
shield  each  other,  as  much  as  possible,  from  any 
impending  danger." 

Tom  was  so  sincere,  and  looked  so  serious — which 
was  not  common  with  him — that  I  told  him  I  never 
would  harm  one  of  them,  if  I  knew  it,  unless  it  was 
in  self-defense. 

We  now  thought  it  best  to  make  our  way  back  to 


90  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

Arkansas.  We  passed  through  Farmington  and 
Fredericktown  on  the  following  night,  and  then 
camped  in  the  woods  until  evening.  We  started 
before  night;  in  order  to  capture  some  fresh  horses. 

Dressed  in  Federal  uniforms,  we  were  riding 
along  the  road  in  Madison  county,  when  on  passing 
a  farm,  1  saw  a  fine  looking  horse  in  a  lot  near  the 
house.  I  halted  my  men,  dismounted  and  went  up 
to  the  horse  to  catch  him,  but  he  was  a  little  shy, 
and  kept  his  head  as  far  from  me  as  possible. 

While  I  was  thus  trying  to  get  a  halter  on  the 
spirited  animal,  a  woman  stepped  onto  the  porch 
and  bawled  out : 

"  See  here !    What  are  you  trying  to  do  ? " 

"I'm  trying  to  catch  this  horse." 

"  Let  him  alone,  you  good-for-nothing !  Don't  you 
look  pretty,  you  miserable  scamp,  trying  to  steal  my 
only  horse  ? " 

"  Yes,  madam,  but  I'm  afraid  you  are  a  rebel." 

"I  am  a  rebel,  sir,  and  I'm  proud  of  it  1  I  have 
two  sons  in  the  rebel  army,  and  if  I  had  six  more 
they  should  all  be  in  it.  You  white-livered,  insig 
nificant  scum  of  creation  I  you  had  better  let  him 
alone.  Why,  you  are  worse  than  Sam  Hildebrand! 
He  wouldn't  take  the  last  horse  from  a  poor  widow 
woman ! " 

By  this  time  I  had  caught  the  horse,  but  as  soon 
as  the  woman  made  that  last  remark,  I  pulled  the 
halter  off,  begged  her  pardon  and  left. 

On  getting  to  headquarters,  Tom  never  let  me  rest 
about  that  adventure. 


SAMUEL  S.  HILDEBRAND.  91 


CHAPTER  XL 

Another  trip  to  Missouri. — Fight  near  Fredencktown. — Horse 
shot  from  under  him. — Killed  four  Soldiers. — Went  into  their 
camp  at  Fredericktown  and  stole  four  horses. — Flight  toward 
the  South.— Robbed  "Old  Crusty."— Return  to  Arkansas. 

While  I  was  recruiting  at  our  headquarters  in 
Green  county,  Arkansas,  Oapt.  Bolin  and  most  of 
his  men  returned  to  rest  themselves  for  a  while. 
Of  course  our  time  passed  off  agreeably,  for  we  all 
had  so  much  to  say,  and  so  much  to  listen  to,  that 
the  mind  was  actively  engaged  all  the  time,  render 
ing  it  impossible  for  time  to  drag  heavily. 

Having  thoroughly  rested  myself,  on  the  25th  day 
of  August  I  selected  three  men,  and  we  started*  on 
a  trip  to  St.  Francois  county,  Missouri,  Nothing 
unusual  occurred  until  we  arrived  in  Madison 
county.  On  getting  within  about  eight  miles  of 
Fredencktown,  daylight  overtook  us,  and  we  stop 
ped  at  an  old  friend's  house  for  breakfast,  who  had 
always  treated  us  kindly,  for  I  had  stopped  with  him 
several  times  on  my  previous  trips.  He  stated  to  us 
that  there  were  no  troops  in  Fredericktown.  Upon 
receiving  this  information,  from  a  source,  as  we  sup 
posed,  so  reliable,  we  felt  quite  free,  and  resolved 
to  make  our  journey  on  that  day  to  my  old  home  on 
Big  river.  So,  after  getting  our  breakfast  and  feed 
ing  our  horses,  we  made  our  way  quietly  to  our 


92  AUTGUKHiKAPIiY    OF 

usual  place  of  crossing  the  gravel  road  leading  from 
the  Pilot  Knob  to  Fredericktown,  when  we  were 
suddenly  fired  on  from  the  brush  by  about  fifty  sold 
iers.  Fortunately  for  us,  we  had  not  kept  the 
usually  travelled  path  that  crossed  the  road  at  the 
place  where  the  soldiers  were  stationed  in  ambush; 
consequently  we  were  about  two  hundred  yards 
from  them,  and  none  of  us  were  hurt,  though  my 
horse  was  shot  from  under  me  ;  the  ball  that  pierced 
his  chest,  passing  through  my  pantaloons,  slightly 
burning  my  knee. 

At  the  word  from  me  my  three  men  whirled  into 
the  brush,  and  we  retreated  back  in  the  direction 
from  which  we  came,  my  men  on  horses  and  myself 
on  foot.  I  was  still  lame  from  the  effects  of  the 
wound  received  at  Flat  Woods,  but  we  made  good 
time,  and  effected  our  escape.  On  getting  about  a 
mile,  I  ordered  my  men  to  hitch  their  horses  in  a 
thicket,  and  we  would  hold  the  place  if  they  under 
took  to  follow  us.  After  waiting  for  some  time  and 
not  hearing  from  them,  we  concluded  to  make  our 
way  cautiously  back  to  where  we  had  been  fired 
upon,  and  try  to  get  a  shot.  We  crept  slowly  up, 
and  saw  six  or  seven  men  near  the  place,  but  we 
could  not  get  close  enough  from  the  side  we  were 
on ;  so  we  made  our  way  in  the  direction  of  Pilot 
Knob  about  a  mile,  crossed  the  gravel  road  behind 
a  hill,  and  came  up  on  the  opposite  side. 

We  got  in  sight  of  them  just  in  time  to  see  a 
party  ride  up,  leading  our  three  horses;  at  this,  I 
concluded  to  try  one  of  them  at  long  ran$e,  seeing 


SAMUEL   S.   IIILDKBRAND.  93 

distinctly  from  our  position  that  we  could  get  no 
closer  without  exposing  ourselves  too  much.  I 
pulled  off  old  "Kill-devil"  at  one  of  them  who  wore 
shoulder-straps  ;  at  the  crack  of  the  gun  the  gentle 
man  got  a  very  hard  fall,  which,  I  am  fearful,  killed 
him.  At  this  they  concluded  to  follow  us  into  our 
native  woods,  for  which  they  paid  very  dearly. 
They  made  a  dash  on  us,  which  caused  us  to  scatter 
in  different  directions,  to  divide  their  party  up  into 
several  squads.  Each  one  of  us  took  a  course 
through  the  woods  in  the  roughest  places  we  could 
find,  which  rendered  it  very  difficult  for  them  to  fol 
low.  I  stopped  at  every  place,  such  as  fallen 
timber,  steep  banks  and  high  rocks,  to  get  a  pop  at 
them,  and  would  be  off  again  in  a  different  direc 
tion.  Sometimes  I  was  in  front,  sometime*  at  one 
side,  and  frequently  in  the  rear.  I  was  pleased  to 
see  them  have  so  much  pluck,  for  it  afforded  old 
"'Kill-devil"  an  opportunity  to  howl  from  every 
knob  and  dense  thicket  in  the  wild  woods  until 
about  one  o'clock  in  the  evening,  when  they  gave 
up  the  chase  and  quit  the  unequal  fight. 

On  meeting  my  men,  at  dark,  on  the  top  of  a  cer 
tain  high  hill  designated  by  me  in  the  morning,  I 
had  four  new  notches  on  the  stock  of  old  "Kill- 
devil,"  indicating  by  that  rough  record  that  four 
more  of  my  enemies  had  gone  to  that  land  where 
the  righteous  would  cease  from  troubling  them  or 
making  them  afraid.  Two  of  my  men  had  killed  a 
man  apiece,  and  the  other  had  made  what  we  call 
in  fishing  "  a  water  haul."  I  suppose,  however,  that 


9i  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

he  betook  himself  into  some  secure  corner  to  medi 
tate  on  the  uncertainty  of  all  human  affairs  until 
the  danger  was  over. 

The  Federals,  on  the  next  day,  started  in  search  of 
us  with  three  or  four  hundred  men  ;  but  their  num 
bers  being  so  great,  we  did  not  make  war  upon  them 
that  day.  At  night  it  rained  very  hard,  and  whilst 
it  was  raining  we  went  into  Fredericktown;  finding 
all  things  quiet  about  camp,  we  managed  to  steal  a 
h.orse  apiece  from  them,  but  did  not  get  the  saddles 
and  bridles,  as  we  were  in  a  huny.  We  got  about 
thirty  miles  on  our  way  back  to  Arkansas  before 
morning — each  of  my  men  riding  bare  backed,  with 
only  a  halter  for  a  bridle.  I  stopped,  however,  at 
the  old  gentleman's  where  we  had  got  breakfast,  for 
the  purpose  of  having  a  small  settlement  with  him, 
as  he  had  deceived  us  in  regard  to  the  soldiers  at 
Fredericktown,  and,  as  we  believed,  had  reported 
us,  for  we  noticed  that  his  son,  a  lad  about  fifteen 
years  old,  had  rode  off  while  we  were  eating  our 
breakfast  on  that  morning.  I  stopped,  but  the  old 
man  was  not  at  home>  so  I  took  an  old  saddle  and 
bridle  from  him,  and  went  on  to  Arkansas,  leaving 
the  Federals  to  hunt  for  us,  which  we  were  told  they 
kept  up  about  ten  days. 

Before  reaching  Arkansas,  however,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  laying  in  our  winter's  supplies,  we  diverged 
about  twenty  miles  from  our  usual  course  to  pay  our 
respects  to  an  old  Union  man  living  at  the  cross 
roads,  who'had  caused  the  expulsion  of  two  families 
from  the  neighborhood  by  reporting  on  them. 


SAMUEL   S.  HILDEBRAND.  95 

He  still  had  the  remnants  of  what  had  once  been 
a  full  country  store.  No  Federal  soldiers  happened 
to  be  near  the  premises  at  the  time,  so  we  rode  up 
to  his  house  about  sunset,  and  while  I  left  one  man 
at  his  door  to  prevent  any  one  from  leaving  the 
house,  we  went  with  the  old  crusty  fellow  to  the 
store.  He  was  not  disposed  to  be  accommodating, 
but  we  bought  everything  that  we  could  put  upon 
our  horses  and  upon  a  mule  that  we  borrowed  of 
him,  and,  after  telling  him  to  charge  it  to  Uncle 
Sam,  with  the  Big  river  mob  for  security,  we  left, 
and  before  morning  were  out  of  the  reach  of  danger. 
On  reaching  camp,  we  relieved  the  needy,  not  for 
getting  the  two  families  that  "  Old  Crusty "  had 
driven  from  his  neighborhood. 


96  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Trip  with  three  men. — Captured  a  Spy  and  shot  him. — Shot 
Scaggs. — At  night  charged  a  Federal  camp  of  one  hundred 
men. — Killed  nine  men. — Had  one  man  wounded. — Came 
near  shooting  James  Craig. — Robbed  Bean's  store  and  re 
turned  to  Arkansas. 

My  family  still  remained  in  Cook  settlement,  in 
St.  Francois  county,  Mo.,  and  as  they  were  in  the 
enemy's  country,  I  did  not  think  it  prudent  to  pay 
them  a  visit,  knowing  that  it  would  only  bring  ruin 
upon  them  if  the  fact  of  my  visit  should  ever  be 
come  known  to  the  Unionists  in  that  county.  But  I 
determined  by  some  means  or  other  to  effect  their 
escape  to  Arkansas  as  soon  as  it  would  be  prudent 
to  make  the  attempt.  Capt.  Bolin  and  hi*  men  had 
promised  me  their  co-operation  if  called  upon  for 
that  purpose  ;  but  I  was  well  aware  that  our  whole 
force  would  be  insufficient  for  the  accomplishment 
of  the  object,  if  attempted  by  force  of  arms,  for  two 
or  three  thousand  men  could  be  brought  against  me 
in  less  than  twenty-four  hours. 

To  keep  myself  well  posted  in  regard  to  the 
strength  of  the  enemy  along  the  route,  I  selected 
three  of  Quantril's  men,  and^in  the  latter  part  of 
September,  started  on  another  raid  into  Missouri. 
On  arriving  at  the  St.  Francis  river  we  found  it  swim 
ming,  but  made  no  halt  on  that  account,  having  by 


SAMUEL   S.   HILDEBRAND.  97 

this  time  become  inured  to  all  kinds  of  hardships 
and  dangers. 

On  the  second  day  after  we  started  we  left  the 
main  road  and  diverged  several  miles  to  our  right, 
for  the  purpose  of  traveling  in  day  time.  On  get* 
ting  within  sight  of  a  house  we  discovered  some  one 
run  into  the  yard,  and  immediately  afterwards  we 
saw  a  little  boy  running  toward  a  barn.  The  move 
ment  being  a  little  suspicious,  we  dashed  forward  and 
were  soon  on  each  side  of  the  barn.  We  discovered 
a  man  through  a  crack,  and  demanded  his  surrender; 
he  came  to  the  door  and  threw  up  his  hands.  On 
taking  him  back  into  the  barn,  we  discovered  his 
bundle  to  contain  a  complete  Federal  uniform,  and 
when  we  noticed  that  the  citizen's  dress  which  he 
had  on  was  much  too  small  for  him,  we  at  once  pro 
nounced  him  a  Federal  spy.  We  found  a  letter  in 
his  pocket,  written  by  a  man  by  the  name  of  Scaggs, 
to  the  authorities  at  Fredericktown,  containing  the 
names  of  his  rebel  neighbors,  whom  he  was  desir 
ous  of  having  burned  out.  One  of  the  men  in  the 
list  I  happened  to  know,  and  by  that  means  I  knew 
that  Scaggs  lived  about  seven  miles  from  there.  We 
took  the  spy  half  a  mile  and  shot  him,  then,  chang 
ing  our  course,  we  started  on  the  hunt  for  Scaggs, 
whose  residence,  however,  we  did  not  find  until 
after  dark.  Dressed  in  Federal  uniform,  we  rode  up 
to  the  gate  and  called  him  out.  On  arresting  him 
we  took  him  to  the  house  of  a  friend,  who  told  us 
that  Scaggs  had  already  made  two  widows  in  that 
neighborhood  by  reporting  their  husbands.  We  took 


98  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

him  with  us  until  daylight  appeared,  hung  him  to  a 
limb  in  the  woods,  and  made  our  way  toward  Castor 
creek,  in  Madison  county. 

The  next  night,  on  crossing  Castor  creek,  we  dis 
covered  a  camp  of  Federals;  judging  them  to  be 
about  twenty  or  thirty  strong,  we  concluded  to 
charge  them  for  a  few  minutes ;  but  on  getting  into 
their  camp  we  found  that  there  were  three  or  four 
times  as  many  as  we  expected;  so  we  charged  on 
through  as  quick  as  possible,  still  two  of  our  horses 
were  killed  and  one  of  my  men  was  slightly  wounded 
in  the  fleshy  part  of  his  thigh.  After  getting  through 
their  camp,  we  captured  the  four  pickets  who  were 
placed  in  a  lane  on  the  opposite  side.  As  we  came 
from  the  wrong  direction,  they  mistook  us  for  their 
own  men,  until  we  had  taken  them  in.  My  two  men 
who  had  lost  their  horses,  now  mounted  those  taken 
.from  the  pickets.  As  soon  as  the  pickets  told  us 
that  they  were  Leeper's  men,  we  shot  them  and 
hurried  on. 

On  our  return,  at  another  time,  we  were  told  by 
the  citizens  that  we  killed  five  and  wounded  several 
more  in  our  charge  through  their  camp ;  making  nine 
men  killed,  including  the  pickets. 

My  wounded  man  could  not  be  kept  in  Missouri 
with  any  degree  of  safety,  and  according  to  the 
usage  of  the  petty  tyrants  who  commanded  the  little 
squads  of  Federals,  it  would  have  been  death  to  any 
man  under  whose  roof  the  wounded  man  might 
have  taken  refuge;  the  man,  without  any  questions 
asked,  would  have  been  shot,  his  house  and  prop- 


SAMUEL   S.   HiLDKBRAND.  99 

erty  burned,  and  his  wife  and  children  turned  out 
into  the  world,  houseless,  forlorn  and  destitute.  To 
avoid  the  infliction  of  such  a  calamity  upon  any  of 
our  friends,  my  wounded  man  was  under  the  neces 
sity  of  making  his  way  alone  back  into  Arkansas. 

My  other  two  men  and  myself  traveled  the  re 
mainder  of  the  night  in  the  direction  of  my  old  home 
in  St.  Francois  county.  I  learned  that  a  prolonged 
effort  was  made  on  the  following  day  to  trail  us  up 
to  our  camp  in  the  woods ;  but  a  rain  having  fallen 
about  daylight,  our  tracks  were  entirely  destroyed. 
On  the  following  night  we  made  our  way  to  the 
house  of  a  friend,  near  the  ruins  of  my  once  happy 
home.  Here  I  remained,  resting  myself  and  scout 
ing  over  the  country  on  foot,  two  whole  days  and 
nights,  trying  to  shoot  some  of  the  miscreants  who 
had  belonged  to  the  old  mob,  but  they  kept  them 
selves  so  closely  huddled  that  I  had  no  chance  at 
them. 

On  the  second  day,  however,  while  lying  near  the 
road,  James  Craig,  captain  of  the  mob — which  by 
this  time  had  assumed  the  name  of  Militia — with 
two  men  whom  I  did  not  recognize,  came  along,  rid 
ing  very  fast.  I  got  a  bead  on  Craig,  but  my  gun 
did  not  fire ;  and  I  will  say  here,  that  this  was  the 
only  time  during  the  war  that  old  "  Kill-devil "  de 
ceived  me. 

On  returning  to  my  friend  near  my  old  home,  he 
stated  to  me  that  our  horses,  which  we  had  con 
cealed  in  a  nook  in  one  of  the  bluffs  of  Big  river, 
had  been  discovered  by  some  boys  who  were  hunt- 


100  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

ing,  and  that  they  had  gone  to  report  to  the  militia. 
Upon  receiving  this  intelligence,  we  started  at  once 
to  our  horses,  found  them  all  right,  and,  not  being 
satisfied  with  the  results  of  our  trip,  we  concluded 
to  obtain  some  supplies  from  our  good  Union  friends 
before  leaving.  We  got  on  Flat  river  about  the 
middle  of  the  afternoon,  and  rode  up  to  a  store  kept 
by  the  sons  of  John  Bean,  one  of  whom  be 
longed  to  the  Vigilance  mob—but  he  was  not  there. 

The  boys  had  sense  enough  to  make  no  demon 
stration,  so,  without  damaging  anything  whatever,  I 
took  such  things  as  we  needed,  in  part  payment  for 
my  property  which  the  mob  had  destroyed. 

The  boys  looked  a  little  displeased ;  they  consid 
ered  us  bad  customers,  and  did  not  even  take  the 
trouble  to  book  the  articles  against  us. 

The  militia,  having  received  the  report  of  the 
boys,  mustered  their  whole  force  and,  on  the  follow 
ing  day,  struck  our  trail  and  overtook  us  between 
Pilot  Knob  and  Fredericktown ;  they  followed  us 
about  ten  miles,  but  only  got  sight  of  us  occasion 
ally  on  the  tops  of  hills  we  had  to  pass  over.  Night 
came,  and  we  neither  saw  nor  heard  them  any  more. 
We  traveled  all  night  and  about  daylight  we  rode 
up  to  the  house  of  a  man  named  Slater,  in  the  south 
ern  part  of  Wayne  county,  Missouri,  for  whom  we 
had  been  watching  for  some  time.  He  had  made 
himself  very  busy  ever  since  the  beginning  of  the 
war  by  reporting  Southern  men.  He  succeeded  in- 
having  several  of  them  imprisoned,  and  their  fami 
lies  impoverished.  We  found  him  at  home ;  his 


SAMUEL   S.   HILDEBRAND,  101 

manhood  wilted  like  a  cabbage  leaf;   we  took  him 
about  a  mile  from  home  and  shot  him. 

We  then  pursued  our  way  home  to  Green  county, 
Arkansas,  and  divided  our  spoils  amongst  the  desti 
tute  families  driven  there  by  the  ruthless  hands  of 
Northern  sympathizers. 


102  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  Militia  Mob  robs  the  Hildebrand  estate— Trip  with  ten 
men. — Attacks  a  Government  train  with  an  escort  of  twenty 
men. — Killed  two  and  put  the  others  to  flight. 

Directly  after  the  termination  of  my  last  trip,  cer 
tain  events  transpired  in  St.  Francois  county  of 
which  it  is  necessary  that  the  reader  should  be  in 
formed.  I  have  already  stated  that  the  infamous 
Vigilance  mob  finally  came  to  a  head  by  the  organ 
ization  of  its  worst  material  into  a  militia  company 
with  James  Craig  for  captain  and  Joe  McGahan  for 
first  lieutenant.  As  Craig  could  neither  read  nor 
write,  and  did  not  know  his  alphabet  from  a  spotted 
mule,  the  lieutenant  was  actually  the  head  and  front 
of  the  marauders.  Their  design  in  assuming  the 
form  and  style  of  a  militia  company  was  merely  for 
the  purpose  of  legalizing  their  acts  of  plunder.  They 
did  not  pretend  to  take  the  field  against  the  Rebels, 
or  to  strike  a  single  blow  in  defense  of  the  State  or 
anything  else.  While  drawing  their  pay  from  the 
government,  they  spent  their  time  hunting  hogs, 
sheep,  and  cattle  belonging  to  other  people. 

Having  killed  all  my  brothers  but  one  (and  he 
was  in  the  Union  army  where  they  could  not  reach 
him),  they  proceeded  to  divide  the  property  of  the 
Hildebrand  estate  among  themselves.  Mother, 
though  decidedly  a  Union  woman  originally,  they 


SAMUEL   S.   HILDEBRAM).  103 

had  long  since  driven  off  to  Jefferson  county,  with 
nothing  but  her  bed  and  Bible.  The  homestead  had 
been  burned,  yet  there  was  an  abundance  of  stock 
belonging  to  the  estate,  and  a  large  field  of  standing 
corn. 

They  collected  the  stock  and  gathered  the  corn, 
and  then  proceeded  to  divide  it  among  themselves. 
In  this  division  they  disagreed  very  much;  a  ques 
tion  arose  whether  an  officer  was  entitled  to  any 
more  than  a  private,  and  a  feW  of  them  went  home 
declaring  that  they  would  not  have  anything  if  they 
could  not  get  their  share. 

At  the  very  time  this  valorous  militia  company 
had  stacked  their  muskets  against  the  fence  and 
were  chasing  mother's  sheep  and  pigs  around 
through  the  dog  fennel,  I  was  capturing  a  govern 
ment  train  and  getting  my  supplies  in  an  honorable 
manner. 

About  the  first  of  November,  1862.  having  learned 
that  the  Federals  were  in  the  habit  of  hauling  their 
army  supplies  to  Bloomfield  from  Cape  Girardeau 
on  the  Mississippi  river,  Capt.  Bolin  and  myself  de 
termined  to  lay  in  our  supplies  from  the  same 
source. 

We  took  ten  men  and  started  with  about  ten  days' 
rations.  Arriving  on  a  stream  called  White  Water, 
which,  with  Castor  creek,  forms  the  Eastern  fork  of 
St.  Francis  river,  we  concealed  ourselves  in  an  un 
frequented  part  of  the  woods.  It  was  necessary  that 
we  should  be  thoroughly  posted  in  regard  to  the  ex- 


104  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

pected  time  of  the  arrival  of  the  train,  and  the  prob 
able  strength  of  the  escort 

I  undertook  this  delicate  mission  disguised  as  a 
country  farmer,  in  search  of  a  stray  mule.  Without 
my  gun  I  made  my  way  on  foot  to  the  vicinity  of  a 
mill  and  there  concealed  myself  near  a  road  to  await 
the  arrival  of  some  one  going  to  mill.  Presently  a 
man  came  along  with  a  carl  and  oxen,  but  I  let  him 
pass,  fearing  that  my  questions  might  arouse  his  sus 
picions.  « 

I  remained  there  nearly  an  hour  for  some  boy  to 
pass ;  at  length  I  saw  one  at  a  distance  coming  slow 
ly  along,  riding  on  his  sack  and  whistling  little  frag 
ments  of  "  John  Brown."  I  stepped  into  the  road 
before  he  got  near  me  and  walked  along  until  I  met 
him.  I  asked  about  my  mule,  but  of  course  he  knew 
nothing  about  him.  I  told  him  that  I  had  concluded 
to  hunt  no  further,  but  that  I  was  anxious  to  return 
to  Bloomfield  if  I  could  only  meet  with  a  convey 
ance  for  I  was  tired  of  walking  so  much*  He  told 
me  that  the  government  wagons  would  pass  there  on 
the  following  day  and  perhaps  I  could  get  a  ride.  I 
told  him  that  I  would  be  afraid  to  do  that  for  the 
Rebels  might  capture  me  ;  he  said  that  there  was 
no  danger  of  that,  for  twenty  soldiers  always  went 
with  the  wagons. 

I  returned  to  my  comrades  with  all  the  informa 
tion  we  wanted,  and  we  soon  settled  all  our  prelim 
inary  arrangements  for  the  attack.  After  dark  we 
took  the  road  along  which  we  knew  they  were  to 
pass;  we  selected  a  place  called  the  Round  Pond, 


SAMUEL    S.   HILDEBRAND.  105 

and  secreted  ourselves  in  a  clump  of  heavy  timber 
through  which  the  soldiers  could  not  see,  in  order 
that  they  might  imagine  the  woods  full  of  Rebels. 

Night  passed  and  the  morning  hours  wore  away, 
when  at  length  we  saw  two  government  wagons 
coming^  and  in  the  sunlight  sure  enough,  twenty 
bayonets  were  gleaming. 

We  suddenly  broke  from  the  woods  with  a  great 
shout,  and  dashed  in  among  them  with  all  the  noise 
we  could  make.  We  fired  a  few  shots,  killing  two 
and  causing  the  remainder  to  break  for  the  woods 
in  every  direction.  The  sole  object  of  our  trip  being 
to  get  supplies  of  clothing,  ammunition,  etc.,  we  felt 
no  disposition  to  hunt  them  down,  but  let  them  con 
tinue  their  flight  without  any  pursuers. 

We  unhitched  the  horses  and  packed  them  with 
such  things  as  we  needed  ;  after  which  we  burned 
the  wagons  and  evjery  thing  else  we  could  not  take 
with  us. 

On  starting  back  we  went  through  Mingo  Swamp 
and  made  our  way  safely  to  St.  Francis  river,  which 
we  found  out  of  its  banks.  With  a  great  deal  of 
difficulty  we  succeeded  in  swimming  the  river  with 
our  train,  but  with  the  loss  of  one  man  named  Banks, 
who  unfortunately  was  drowned.  Becoming  en 
tangled  in  a  drift  of  grape  vines  and  brush,  he 
drowned  before  we  could  render  him  anv  assistance. 


106  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Federal  cruelties. — A  defense  of  "Bushwhacking." — Trip  with 
Capt.  Bolin  and  nine  men. — Fight  at  West  Prairie. — Started 
with  two  men  to  St.  Francois  county. — Killed  a  Federal 
soldier.— Killed  Ad.  Cunningham. — Capt.  Walker  kills  Capt. 
Barnes,  and  Hildebrand  kills  Capt.  Walker. 

On  arriving  at  headquarters  we  busied  ourselves 
for  several  weeks  in  building  houses  to  render  our 
selves  as  comfortable  as  possible  during  the  coming 
winter.  Our  headquarters  were  on  Crawley's  Ridge, 
between  the  St.  Francis  river  and  Cash  creek,  in 
Green  county,  Arkansas.  It  was  a  place  well  adap 
ted  to  our  purpose,  affording  as  it  did  a  safe  retreat 
from  a  large  army  encumbered  with  artillery. 

Many  of  Capt.  Bolin's  men  had*  their  families  with 
them,  and  our  little  community  soon  presented  a 
considerable  degree  of  neatness  and  comfort.  I 
could  have  contented  myself  longer  at  this  quiet 
place,  but  our  scouts  were  constantly  bringing  us 
rumors  of  fresh  barbarities  committed  by  the  differ 
ent  Federal  bands  who  were  infesting  the  country 
in  Southeast  Missouri,  making  it  their  especial  aim 
to  arrest,  burn  out,  shoot  and  destroy  all  those 
peaceable  citizens  who  from  the  beginning  had 
taken  no  part  in  the  war. 

They  were  especially  marked  out  for  destruction 
who  had  been  known  to  shelter  "Sam  Hildebrand, 


SAMUEL   S.   HILDEBRAND.  107 

the  Bushwhacker,"  as  they  were  pleased  to  call  me. 
If  any  man  should  happen  to  see  me  passing  along 
the  road,  and  then  should  fail  to  report  the  same  at 
headquarters,  regardless  of  the  distance,  he  was 
taken  out  from  his  house  and  shot,  without  even  the 
shadow  of  a  trial  to  ascertain  whether  he  was  guilty 
or  not.  An  old  man,  with  his  head  silvered  over  by 
the  frosts  of  seventy  winters,  who  had  served  his 
country  in  many  a  hard  fought  battle  before  his  tor 
mentors  were  born,  and  who  now  hoped  to  go  down 
the  declivity  of  life  in  peace  and  security,  found 
himself  suddenly  condemned  and  shot  for  disloy 
alty,  because  he  generously  took  a  stranger  into  his 
house  for  the  night,  who  afterwards  proved  to  be 
"the  notorious  Sam  Hildebrand." 

These  same  miscreants,  however,  would  call  at 
any  house  they  pleased,  and,  by  threats,  compel 
even  women,  in  the  absence  of  their  husbands,  to 
cook  the  last  morsel  of  food  in  the  house,  scraped 
together  by  poor  feeble  women  to  keep  their  chil 
dren  from  starving  to  death. 

Did  I  ever  do  that  ?  No,  never  !  Did  I  ever  pun 
ish  a  man  for  feeding  a  Federal  ?  Did  I  ever  shoot 
a  man  for  not  reporting  to  me  the  fact  of  having 
seen  a  Federal  pass  along  the  road  ?  If  that  was 
really  my  mode  of  proceeding,  I  would  deserve  the 
stigma  cast  upon  my  name. 

My  enemies  say  that  I  am  a  "  Bushwhacker." 
Very  well,  what  is  a  "  Bushwhacker  ? "  He  is  a  man 
who  shoots  his  enemies.  What  is  a  regular  army 
but  a  conglomerate  mass  of  Bushwhackers  ?  But 


108  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

we  frequently  conceal  ourselves  in  the  woods,  and 
take  every  advantage !  So  do  the  regular  armies. 
But  a  Bushwhacker  will  slip  up  and  shoot  a  man  in 
the  night !  Certainly,  and  a  regular  army  will  slip 
up  and  shoot  a  thousand. 

But  a  Bushwhacker  lives  by  plundering  his  ene 
mies  !  So  did  Sherman  in  Georgia,  and  a  host  of 
others,  with  this  difference :  That  I  never  charged 
my  government  with  a  single  ration,  while  they  did 
so  at  all  times.  Besides,  I  never  made  war  upon 
women  and  children,  neither  did  I  ever  burn  a 
house ;  while  the  great  marching,  house-burning, 
no  battle  hero,  turned  his  attention  to  nothing  else. 

In  fact,  the  "Independent  Bushwhacking  Depart 
ment  "  is  an  essential  aid  in  warfare,  particularly  in 
a  war  like  ours  proved  to  be.  There  are  a  class  of 
cowardly  sneaks,  a  gang  of  petty  oppressors — like 
the  Big  river  mob — who  can  be  reached  in  no  other 
way.  A  large  regular  army  might  pass  through 
where  they  were  a  dozen  times  without  ever  finding 
one  of  them. 

As  I  stated  before,  barbarities  were  committed  by 
a  certain  band  of  Federals,  that  warranted  our  in 
terference. 

Capt.  Bolin,  myself  and  nine  other  men  mounted 
our  horses  and  started  on  another  trip,  about  the 
first  day  of  December,  1862. 

We  crossed  the  St.  Francis,  and  traveled  several 
nights,  until  we  reached  West  Prairie,  in  Scott 
county,  Missouri,  where  we  came  upon  a  squad  of 


SAMUEL   S.   HILDEB11AND.  109 

Federals,  thirty  in  number,  like  an  old-fashioned 
earthquake. 

Imagining  themselves  perfectly  safe,  they  had 
placed  out  no  pickets ;  so  we  ran  suddenly  on  them, 
and  before  they  had  time  to  do  any  fighting  they 
were  so  badly  demoralized  they  knew  not  how  to 
fight. 

We  killed  four,  wounded  several  more,  and 
charged  on  through  their  camp,  as  was  our  custom; 
in  half  an  hour  we  returned  to  renew  the  attack, 
but  found  nobody  to  fight. 

In  our  first  charge,  we  caused  several  of  their 
horses  to  break  loose,  which  we  afterwards  got.  We 
had  one  man  wounded,  having  been  shot  through 
the  thigh  with  a  Minnie  ball.  Capt.  Bolin  and  six 
men  took  the  wounded  man  back  with  them  to  Ar 
kansas,  while  Henry  Resinger,  George  Lasiter  and 
myself  started  on  a  trip  to  St.  Francois  county. 

One  morning,  just  at  daylight,  we  found  ourselves 
on  the  gravel  road  leading  from  Pilot  Knob  to 
Fredericktown,  and  about  seven  miles  from  the 
latter  place.  We  concealed  ourselves  in  a  thicket 
and  watched  the  road  until  evening  before  we  saw 
an  enemy.  A  squad  of  eight  Federals  came  sud 
denly  in  sight,  riding  very  fast.  I  hailed  them,  to 
cause  a  momentary  halt,  and  we  fired.  One  fell  to 
the  ground,  but  the  others  hastened  on  until  they 
were  all  out  of  sight.  While  we  were  examining 
our  game  (the  dead  man),  we  discovered  three  more 
in  the  distance,  who  seemed  to  have  got  behind  the 
party,  and  were  riding  rapidly  to  overtake  them  ; 


110  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

at  this  we  divided,  taking  our  stations  in  two  differ 
ent  places  for  the  purpose  of  taking  them  in.  On 
coming  nearer  we  discovered  that  they  were  not 
dressed  in  Federal  uniform.  We  took  them  prison 
ers  and  ascertained  that  they  were  Southern  sym 
pathizers  from  near  Fredericktown,  who  had  been 
imprisoned  at  the  Knob  for  several  weeks,  but  hav 
ing  been  released  they  were  on  their  way  home. 
While  we  were  thus  parleying  with  them,  asking 
questions  relative  to  the  forces  at  the  different  mili 
tary  posts  in  the  country,  the  party  we  had  fired 
into  now  returned  with  a  much  larger  force,  and 
suddenly  we  found  ourselves  nearly  surrounded  by 
a  broken  and  scattered  line  on  three  sides  of  us,  at 
a  distance  of  only  one  hundred  yards.  The  odds 
were  rather  against  ns>  being  about  sixty  men 
against  three.  I  called  quickly  to  my  men  to  follow 
me,  and  we  dashed  for  the  uncompleted  part  of  their 
circle.  On  seeing  this  movement  they  dashed  rap 
idly  toward  that  part  and  closed  the  line  ;  but  when 
I  started  toward  that  point  it  was  the  least  of  my 
intentions  to  get  out  at  that  place  ;  I  wheeled  sud 
denly  around  and  went  out  in  the  rear,  contrary  to 
their  expectations,  followed  by  my  men,  shooting  as 
we  ran,  until  we  had  gained  some  distance  in  the 
woods ;  having  the  advantage  of  the  darkness  that 
was  now  closing  in  upon  us,  and  being  on  foot,  we 
escaped  from  the  cavalry,  who  were  tangled  up  in 
the  brush,  and  were  making  the  woods  resound 
with  their  noise. 
We  luckily  escaped  unhurt,  although  there  were 


SAMUEL   S.   HILDEBRAND.  Ill 

at  least  fifty  shots  fired  at  us.  I  received  two  bullet 
holes  through  the  rim  of  my  hat,  and  one  through 
the  sleeve  of  my  coat,  and  one  of  my  men  got  a 
notch  in  his  whiskers.  We  were  not  certain  of  hav 
ing  hurt  any  of  the  Federals  as  we  passed  out  of 
their  lines.  We  kept  together  and  returned  to  our 
horses  ;  after  a  short  consultation  we  mounted  and 
rode  back  to  get  a  few  more  shots  at  them,  at  long 
range  ;  but  when  we  got  to  the  battlefield  we  found 
no  one  there.  Toward  Fredericktown  we  then 
made  our  way,  until  we  got  in  sight  of  the  place, 
but  saw  nothing  of  the  soldiers.  During  the  night 
we  visited  several  friends,  and  several  who  were  not 
friends,  but  did  no  harm  to  any  one,  there  being 
only  two  men  at  that  time  in  the  vicinity  whom  we 
wanted  to  hang,  and  they  were  not  at  home.  On 
the  next  day  we  tore  down  the  telegraph  wire  on 
the  road  to  Pilot  Knob,  and  stationed  ourselves 
about  a  mile  from  town  for  the  purpose  of  bush 
whacking  the  Federals  when  they  should  come  to  fix 
it  up ;  but  they  were  getting  cunning,  and  sent  out 
some  Southern  sympathizers  for  that  purpose,  and 
we  did  not  hurt  them.  But  I  made  a  contract  with 
one  of  them  for  ammunition,  and  in  the  evening, 
when  we  had  again  torn  the  wire  down,  he  came  out 
to  fix  it  up,  and  brought  me  a  good  supply  of  powder 
and  lead. 

From  him  we  learned  that  a  general  movement 
against  us  was  to  be  made  by  the  troops,  both  at 
Fredericktown  and  the  Knob,  on  the  following  day. 

I  knew  that  the  whole   country  between  there 


112  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

and  Arkansas  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Federals.  1 
knew  also  that  they  had  learned  my  trick  of  invari 
ably  making  a  back  movement  toward  Arkansas, 
immediately  after  creating  an  excitement. 

As  they  seemed  not  likely  to  hunt  the  same  coun 
try  over  twice,  I  concluded  to  go  north  of  the  road 
and  wait  a  few  days  until  the  southern  woods  were 
completely  scoured,  and  thus  rendered  safe  for  our 
return. 

V/hile  waiting  for  this  to  be  done,  I  thought  it  a 
good  opportunity  to  hunt  up  a  man  by  the  name  of 
Cunningham,  who  had  been  living  in  the  vicinity  of 
Bloomfield.  During  the  early  part  of  the  war  he 
professed  to  be  a  strong  Southern  man,  and  had  been 
of  some  service  to  our  cause  as  a  spy ;  but  during 
the  second  year  of  the  rebellion  he  changed  his 
plans  and  became  to  us  a  very  dangerous  enemy, 
and  was  very  zealous  in  reporting  both  citizens  and 
soldiers  to  the  Federal  authorities. 

Our  intention  on  this  trip  was  to  arrest  and  take 
him  to  Col.  Jeffries'  camp,  ten  miles  south  of  Bloom- 
field,  that  he  might  be  dealt  with  by  the  Colonel  as 
he  might  see  proper. 

On  gaining  the  vicinity  of  Farmington,  where 
Cunningham  now  lived,  we  learned  that  he  was 
carrying  on  his  oppressive  measures  with  a  high 
hand,  and  was  very  abusive  to  those  whom  he  had 
in  his  power. 

It  is  said  that  he  even  robbed  his  own  brother, 
Burril  Cunningham,  and  suffered  him  to  be  abused 
unmercifully  by  the  squad  of  men  under  his  com- 


SAMUEL   S.   HILDEBRAND.  113 

mand.  On  reaching  the  Valle  Forge  we  struck  his 
trail  and  followed  on  toward  Farmington ;  but  some 
Federals  got  upon  our  trail,' and  would  have  over 
taken  us  before  we  reached  town,  if  a  friend  had  not 
deceived  them  in  regard  to  the  course  we  had  taken* 

We  found  Cunningham  at  his  own  house,  and 
when  we  approached  the  door  I- demanded  his  sur 
render  ;  he  attempted  to  draw  a  revolver,  and  I  shot 
him  through  the  heart. 

Having  accomplished  our  object,  we  now  returned 
to  Bloomfield  and  reported  to  Col.  Jeffries.  We  re 
mained  there  about  three  weeks. 

On  the  5th  day  of^  January,  .1863,  Capt.  Reuben 
Barnes  requested  me  and  my  two  men  to  assist  him 
in  capturing*  a  man  by  the  name  of  Oapt.  Walker, 
who  had  a  command  in  the  Federal  army,  and  was 
now  supposed  to  be  at  his*  home,  about  six  miles 
from  there. 

On  approaching  the  house,  Walker  ran  out,  hold 
ing  his  pistols  in  his  hands.  As  we  were  near 
enough,  we  ordered  him  to  surrender,  at  which  he 
turned  around  and  faced  us.  On  getting  a  little 
nearer,  he  suddenly  shot  Capt.  Barnes,  and  started 
to  run.  Our'dh-ase  was  soon  ended,  for  I  shot  him 
dead. 

We  took  Capt.  Barnes  back  to  Bloomiiekl,  where 
he  died 'the  same  day.  We  then  returned *to  Green 
county,  Arkansas,  and  went  into  winter  quarters. 


114  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Started  alone. — Rode  off  a  bluff  and  killed  his  horse. — Fell  in 
with  twenty-five  Rebels  under  Lieutenant  Childs. — Went 
with  them. — Attacked  one  hundred  and  fifty  Federals  at  Bel 
linger's  Mill. — Henry  Resinger  killed. — William  Cato. — Went 
back  to  Fredericktown. — Killed  a  man. — Robbed  Abright's 
store. 

On  the  23d  day  of  January,  1863, 1  started  alone 
on  a  trip  to  Missouri,  for  the  purpose  of  making 
some  arrangements  for  the  escape  of  my  family  to 
Arkansas.  I  got  along  very  well  until  the  second 
night ;  then  as  I  was  riding  over  a  brushy  ridge  I 
was  suddenly  hailed  by  "Who  comes  there?" 

I  halted  and  in  an  instant  became  aware  of  my 
close  proximity  to  a  Federal  camp.  I  instantly 
wheeled  my  horse  in  the  woods  to  the  right;  dashed 
furiously  down  a  steep  hill  side  for  a  short  distance, 
and  then  in  the  darkness  plunged  over  a  precipice 
eight  or  ten  feet  high.  My  horse  fell  among  some 
rocks  and  was  killed,  but  I  was  precipitated  a  few 
feet  further  into  a  deep  hole  of  water  in  some  creek. 

I  was  a  little  confused  in  my  ideas  for  a  while,  but 
I  had  sense  enough  to  crawl  up  out  of  the  deep  wa 
ter  ;  as  I  stood  there  with  my  dripping  clothes  I 
heard  some  of  the  soldiers  coming  down  the  hill  to 
ward  me ;  so  I  crossed  the  creek  and  took  up  the 
hill  on  the  other  side.  I  was  now  completely  out  of 
their  clutches  and  could  easily  have  made  my  es- 


SAMUEL   S.    HILDEBRAND.  115 

cape ;  but  I  had  Jeft  my  gun  in  the  deep  hole,  and 
the  thought  of  leaving  "Kill-devil"  in  that  predica 
ment  was  more  than  I  could  bear. 

In  a  few  minutes  the  soldiers  left  and  went  back 
up  the  hill.  I  now  slipped  back  cautiously  and 
got  into  the  water  to  recover  my  gun.  The  water  was 
deep  and  cold ;  however,  I  waded  in  nearly  up  to 
my  chin  and  felt  around  with  my  feet  for  the  gun.  I 
got  my  foot  under  it  finally  and  raised  it  up  ;  but  I 
had  no  sooner  got  it  into  my  hands  than  I  saw  five 
or  six  soldiers  returning  with  a  light.  As  they  were 
making  their  way  down  through  a  crevice  in  the 
bluff,  some  ten  steps  above  the  rock  from  which  I 
had  been  precipitated,  I  had  just  time  to  wade  down 
the  creek,  which  was  now  only  a  few  inches  deep  in 
places,  and  secrete  myself  behind  a  cluster  of  wil 
lows  that  hung  over  the  edge  of  the  steep  bank 
about  twenty  yards  below. 

The  Federals  remained  ten  or  fifteen  minutes, 
walking  around  my  dead  horse,  and  around  the  hole 
of  water.  They  threw  the  glare  of  their  lantern  in 
every  direction,  and  though  I  was  completely  hid 
from  their  observation,  I  must  acknowledge  that  as 
I  stood  there  in  the  water,  shivering  with  cold,  hold 
ing  my  dripping  gun,  I  felt  more  like  anything  else 
in  the  world  than  a  major.  Finally  they  struck  the 
trail  that  I  had  made  up  the  hill  with  my  dripping 
clothes  and  each  one  of  them  went  in  pursuit. 

Taking  this  opportunity  I  slowly  left  my  retreat 
and  waded  down  the  creek  for  a  long  distance.  I 
climbed  up  the  hill  on  the  same  side  on  which  the 


116  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

Federals  were  camped  ;  1  made  a  wide  circuit  around 
them  and  came  into  the  road,  some  four  or  five  miles 
ahead.  I  walked  rapidly  to  keep  myself  warm,  and 
just  before  the  break  of  day  I  arrived  at  the  house 
of  a  friend,  wet,  hungry,  and  on  foot.  I  was  soon 
supplied  with  everything  I  wanted ;  my  gun  was 
well  attended  to,  and  when  morning  came  "  Kill- 
devil"  looked  rather  brighter  than  usual. 

I  started  on  in  the  direction  of  Fredericktown  and 
fell  in  with  twenty-five  Rebel  boys,  commanded  by 
Lieut.  Ohilds,  who  asked  me  to  take  command  of  his 
men  and  give  the  Federals  a  "  whack"  at  Bellinger's 
Mill,  on  Castor  creek. 

That  locality  for  some  time  had  been  a  place  of 
rendezvous  for  Southern  recruits ;  that  fact  being 
well-known,  the  Federals  concluded  to  station  some 
men  there.  They  were  known  to  be  about  one  hund 
red  and  fifty  strong,  but  I  consented  on  condition 
that  his  men  all  take  an  oath  never  to  surrender  un 
der  any  circumstances.  After  the  oath  was  admin 
istered  we  marched  to  the  place  above  mentioned, 
arriving  there  about  eleven  o'clock  at  night,  on  the 
4th  of  February.  We  succeeded  in  capturing  their 
pickets,  made  a  charge  on  their  camp,  fought  them 
for  about  five  minutes  (or  until  they  got  ready  to 
fight) ;  killed  twenty-two  of  their  number  as  we- 
were  informed  afterwards,  and  at  the  word  we 
marched  out  on  double-quick  time.  We  took  four 
prisoners  with  us  and  got  some  important  informa 
tion  from  them,  but  finding  that  they  were  not  MQ.: 
Neal's  men  we  released  them  all. 


SAMUEL   S.    HILDEBRAND.  117 

We  lost  one  man  killed,  Henry  Resinger,  and  three 
badly  wounded,  who  recovered. 

We  carried  the  wounded  with  us  in  our  retreat, 
and  at  daylight  we  all  started  for  Mingo  Swamp. 

The  Federals  followed  us,  and  as  our  march  was 
retarded  by  our  wounded ;  they  made  their  way 
around  and  charged  us,  striking  our  columns  at  right 
angles,  they  divided  our  line-cutting  off  seven  of  my 
men,  whom  they  took  prisoners. 

In  this  little  skirmish  I  lost  one  man,  and  killed 
three  of  the  Federals,  at  which  they  left  our  trail  and 
permitted  us  to  make  our  way  to  St.  Francis  river, 
which  we  were  compelled  to  swim. 

We  got  one  horse  drowned,  but  got  over  safely 
without  any  other  accident,  struck  camp  and  com 
menced  getting  our  breakfast,  dinner  and  supper, 
all  the  same  meal.  Presently  some  one  from  the 
opposite  shore  called  for  us  to  bring  him  a  horse. 
From  his  voice  we  knew  him  to  be  William  Cato, 
one  of  the  seven  who  had  been  taken  as  a  prisoner. 
One  of  my  men  swam  over  to  him  with  a  horse,  and 
when  he  had  arrived  safely  in  camp,  he  informed  us 
that  six  of  the  prisoners  were  shot,  and  that  he  had 
made  his  escape  by  dodging  them  in  the  brush.  He 
was  barefooted,  and  had  torn  nearly  all  his  clothing 
off. 

We  afterwards  learned  that  the  officer  in  command 
at  Bollinger's  Mill  was  Capt.  Leeper  from  Ironton, 
Missouri. 

Not  being  satisfied  with  my  trip,  I  did  not  remain 
but  one  week  in  camp,  before  I  selected  two  men 


118  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

and  started  back  to  Missouri  to  make  another  effort 
towards  getting  my  family  to  Arkansas.  On  getting 
to  Fredericktown  we  found  the  place  full  of  sold-' 
iers.  In  that  town  there  lived  a  Dutchman,  whose 
meddlesome  disposition  led  him  to  be  very  zealous 
in  the  cause  of  putting  soldiers  on  the  track  of  pri 
vate  citizens.  It  seems  that  he  never  left  town,  and 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  kill  him  unless  it 
were  done  in  public. 

After  night  I  layed  off  my  coat,  and  gathering  up 
a  saw  buck,  which  I  found  at  a  wood  pile,  I  walked 
straight  across  a  street  or  two,  until  I  reached  the 
door,  thinking  thereby  not  to  attract  any  particular 
attention ;  but  on  being  told  that  he  was  not  at 
home,  I  carried  myself  out  of  town  as  soon  as  cir 
cumstances  would  permit,  got  with  my  two  men  and 
started  on  toward  Farmington.  When  morning  be 
gan  to  approach  we  left  the  road  several  miles  and 
secreted  ourselves  on  a  certain  hill,  for  a  friend 
on  whom  we  had  called  during  the  night  told  us 
that  the  military  authorities  were  aware  of  my 
presence  in  the  neighborhood,  and  that  they  had  se 
cured  the  services  of  two  or  three  good  woodsmen 
to  aid  in  tracking  me  up. 

About  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  we  discovered 
a  man  tracking  us  slowly  aruond  our  steep  hill,  look 
ing  cautiously  ahead,  holding  his  gun  in  a  position 
to  raise  and  fire  in  an  instant.  The  ground  was  hard 
and  our  horses  were  not  easily  trailed,  but  our  pur 
suer  kept  moving  along  very  slowly.  We  were  at  a 
loss  to  kn-ow  whether  he  was  really  a  brave  man  or 


SAMUEL   S.   HlLDEBftAND.  119 

a  natural  fool.  Not  coming  to  any  definite  conclu 
sion  however,  I  concluded  to  make  my  way  down 
the  hill  a  little  to  gratify  his  curiosity  by  letting  him 
find  me,  I  wounded  him  severely  on  purpose  to 
let  him  see  me,  but  he  yelled  so  loud  that  I  had  to 
kill  him  with  my  knife,  for  I  wanted  "  peace"  about 
that  time. 

We  heard  some  horsemen  coming,  so  we  hastened 
away  from  there  and  secreted  ourselves  in  a  thicket 
on  Wolf  creek,  near  the  residence  of  John  Griffin. 

Here  I  learned  that  my  wife  had  procured  a  little 
wagon  and  a  small  yoke  of  oxen,  with  which  to 
move  to  Arkansas  ;  that  she  started  with  the  family 
on  the  16th  day  of  February,  and  by  this  time  was 
in  the  vicinity  of  Bloomfield. 

At  night  we  went  out  on  the  plank  road  leading 
from  Farmington  to  Ste.  Genevieve  and  fired  into  a 
camp  of  Federals  ;  we  could  not  get  near  enough  to 
do  them  any  harm,  but  wished  to  draw  them  out  to 
hunt  for  us  ;  but  in  this  we  failed  and  had  to  abandon 
the  project. 

From  there  we  went  to  the  junction  of  the  Pilot 
Knob  and  Iron  Mountain  roads,  and  robbed  a  store 
belonging  to  a  Dutchman  by  the  name  of  Abright. 
We  patronized  him  very  liberally  and  started  back 
to  Arkansas  with  all  the  goods  we  could  pack. 

At  this  stage  of  the  war  the  Federals  held  pos 
session  of  all  the  principal  places  in  Southeast  Mis 
souri.  Bloomfield  was  also  held  by  them,  and  there 
was  no  doubt  in  my  mind  but  what  my  familv  was 
now  in  their  hands. 


120  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   01' 

While  passing  through  Stoddard  county,  the  Fed 
erals  overtook  us,  and  run  us  so  closely  that  we 
were  compelled  to  throw  off  a  part  of  our  loads ; 
on  arriving  at  St.  Francis  river  we  found  it  guarded. 
Our  only  chance  was  to  whip  the  Federals, 
and  we  determined  to  try  it.  We  retreated  into  a 
dense  cane  brake  and  then  commenced  upon  them. 
We  killed  three  of  their  men  on  the  second  round 
and  then  they  fled.  We  got  home  safely  and  were 
again  prepared  "  to  clothe  the  naked  and  feed  the 
hungry." 


SAMUEL   S.    HILDEBRAND,  121 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Started  to  Bloomfield  with  three  men. — Fight  at  St.  Francis 
River. — Starts  on  alone. — Meets  his  wife  and  family. — They 
had  been  ordered  off  from  Bloomfield.— Capture  and  release 
of  Mrs.  Hildebrand. — Fight  in  Stoddard  county. — Arrival  in 
Arkansas. 

For  the  purpose  of  getting  my  family  to  Arkan 
sas,  it  was  necessary  that  I  should  make  a  trip  to 
Bloomfield,  although  that  place  was  now  held  by  a 
large  Federal  force  under  McNeal. 

I  started  with  three  good  men,  crossed  the  St. 
Francis  river  at  a  shoal,  but  we  had  not  proceeded 
more  than  ten  miles  when  we  ran  into  a  company  of 
McNeal's  men,  who  instantly  fired  upon  us,  slightly 
wounding  one  of  my  men  in  -the  fleshy  part,  of  his 
arm. 

We  thought  it  best  for  four  men  to  retreat  from 
the  fire  of  nearly  one  hundred,  which  we  did,  in 
double-quick  time.  They  pursued  us  very  closely, 
but  were  at  too  great  a  distance  for  them  to  shoot 
us. 

Wishing  to  get  a  few  shots  at  them,  we  concluded 
to  cross  the  river  and  give  them  a  fight  from  the 
other  side ;  so  we  plunged  our  horses  in  the  deep 
water  at  the  nearest  point,  were  swimming,  and  had 
nearly  gained  the  opposite  shore,  when  the  Federals 

ran  onto  the  bank  we  had  just  left  and  fired  a  volley 
6 


122  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  off 

at  us  with  their  muskets;  but  their  shots  were  all 
too  high. 

We  reached  the  bank  where  the  willows  were 
very  thick,  jumped  off  our  horses  and  returned  the 
fire.  From  our  place  of  concealment  we  could 
easily  see  that  three  of  their  number  were  killed. 
They  kept  up  a  random  fire  at  the  willow  thicket, 
in  which  they  wounded  three  of  our  horses  and 
caused  them  to  run  up  into  the  woods,  terribly  af 
frighted.  By  this  time  they  had  ceased  firing  and 
had  taken  refuge  behind  trees,  and  were  watching 
for  our  movements ;  in  this  position  they  stood  two 
rounds  from  our  rifles,  in  which  four  of  them  fell, 
having  been  shot  through  the  head.  Before  we 
could  get  another  shot  we  discovered  a  portion  of 
the  men  making  their  way  up  the  river,  and  I 
understood  at  once  that  their  intention  was  to  en 
gage  our  attention  at  that  place,  while  a  part  of 
the  command  would  make  their  way  around  and 
take  us  in  ;  so  we  retreated  in  good  order  to  a  place 
of  safety,  and  remained  all  night. 

The  next  morning  were  crossed  the  river  in  compa 
ny  with  several  others  ;  and  found  that  the  Federals 
during  the  night  after  the  fight  had  gone  to  Bloom- 
field.  They  procured  a  wagon  and  team  from  an 
old  man  living  near  for  the  purpose  of  hauling  off 
their  dead.  The  old  man  stated  to  us  that  there 
were  seven  killed  and  two  wounded. 

I  now  decided  to  change  my  tactics,  and  try  my 
luck  alone  and  on  foot.  I  thought  that  by  stealthy 
movements  I  could  find  my  family  and  get  them  off 


SAMUEL   S.    HILDEBRANP.  12$ 

to  Arkansas  much  better  than  with  a  small  com 
pany  of  men. 

In  a  few  days  I  met  my  family  about  twenty  miles 
south  from  Bloomfield  on  their  way  to  Arkansas,  in 
an  old  wagon  pulled  by  a  small  yoke  of  oxen,  which 
my  wife  was  driving.  I  learned  from  her  that  some 
of  Capt.  Bolin's  men  had  removed  her  from  Flat 
Woods  to  Bloomfield,  in  Stoddard  county,  Missouri, 
but  that  McNeal,  on  taking  possession  of  the  town, 
had  ordered  her  to  leave,  adding  that  the  wife  and 
family  of  that  "desperado,  Sam  Hildebrand,"  could 
not  remain  within  one  hundred  miles  of  his  head 
quarters. 

With  the  wagon  and  oxen  furnished  her  by  a 
friend  to  our  cause,  she  took  the  children  and  some 
provisions  and  started  out  upon  the  road,  and  when 
I  met  them  she  was  making  her  way  as  best  she 
could,  but  was  just  preparing  to  camp  for  the  night 
in  the  lone  woods.  She  cautioned  me  very  particu 
larly  about  the  Federals,  and  said  that  she  had  seen 
two  or  three  squads  that  day.  On  the  following  morn 
ing  we  resumed  our  journey,  and  about  ten  o'clock 
I  met  six  Union  soldiers,  who  came  suddenly  upon 
me  at  a  short  turn  in  the  road,  but,  being  dressed  in 
Federal  uniform,  they  did  not  suspicion  me  as  being 
a  Rebel.  They  asked  me  to  what  command  I  be 
longed,  and  I  answered  them  to  Capt.  Rice's,  sta 
tioned  at  that  time  in  Fredericktown  ;  at  this  they 
seemed  satisfied,  and  passed  on,  swearing  vengeance 
against  any  Rebels  that  might  fall  in  their  way. 

As  soon  as  they  were  out  of  sight,  I  told  my  wife  to 


124  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

drive  on,  while  I  traveled  through  the  brush  awhile. 
I  had  scarcely  got  out  of  the  road  when  I  discovered 
a  whole  regiment  of  Federal  soldiers,  not  more  than 
half  a  mile  off,  who  were  coming  directly  toward 
us.  I  soon  gained  an  eminence  in  the^woods,  from 
which  I  could  observe  their  maneuvers.  They  stop 
ped  at  the  wagon,  and  after  parleying  with  my  wife 
for  several  minutes,  they  turned  her  team  around 
and  took  my  family  along. 

At  this  juncture  it  is  needless  to  say  that  I  be 
came  enraged,  and  knowing  an  old  rebel  citizen 
about  two  miles  off,  I  resolved  at  once  to  go  to  him, 
thinking  that  perhaps  I  might  hear  from  some  of 
our  boys,  for  I  was  sure  that  if  there  were  any  in 
the  neighborhood  the  old  man  would  know  it.  I 
was  overjoyed  when  he  told  me  that  James  Oato 
and  Wash  Nabors  were  taking  a  nap  in  the  barn, 
while  he  was  standing  on  the  lookout.  I  repaired 
to  the  barn  at  once,  told  them  the  fate  of  my  family, 
and  that  I  wanted  their  assistance  that  we  might 
amuse  ourselves  in  bushwhacking  them. 

After  getting  something  to  eat,  and  some  provi 
sions  to  take  along  with  us,  we  started  through  the 
dense  forest,  and  got  in  sight  of  them  about  sun 
down.  Before  darkness  set  in  we  killed  a  man 
apiece,  and  then  lurked  around  the  camp  all  night. 
About  every  two  hours,  Cato,  Nabors  and  myself 
would  meet  at  a  certain  hill,  designated  before  dark, 
and  report  progress.  I  made  a  great  many  random 
shots,  but  I  think  that  during  the  night  I  killed  as 
many  as  fifteen  men.  My  comrades  thought  that  they 


SAMUEL    S.    HILDEBRAND.  125 

both  together  killed  as  many  more.*!  I  learned  after 
wards  that  the  number  we  killed  during  the  night 
was  just  thirty ;  none  were  wounded  that  I  ever 
could  hear  of. 

Morning  began  to* approach,  and^we  fell  back  to 
a  high  hill,  until  they  began  to  move  toward  Bloom- 
field.  Throughout  the  day  they  kept  their  skirmish 
lines  so  strong  that  we'could  do  nothing ;  however, 
we  got  several  shots,  at  long  range,  at  their  scouts, 
but  during  the  entire  day  1  was  not  certain  of  kill- 
in  gjmore  thanTtwo^men. 

We  kept  in  the" woods,  as  near  the  troops  as  we 
could,  until  "we^  had  followed  them  into  the  very 
suburbs  of  Bloomfield  ;  then  we  started  back  along 
the  road  about  dark,  intending  to  pick  up  stragglers. 
Judge  of  my  surprise  and  joy  when,  on  going  back, 
I  came  across  my  wife  and  children  sitting  by  the 
roadside,  where  the  Federals  had  left  them  about 
noon,  but  without  the  oxen  and  wagon,  and  without 
any  provisions,  bedding  or  change  of  clothing. 

The  capture  of  my  wife  had  proved  rather  fatal 
to  them,  and  her  detention  among  them  had  pro 
duced  nothing  but  disaster  and  death. 

It  reminded  me  of  a  passage  of  Scripture  that  I 
once  heard  my  mother  read  from  the  Book  of  Sam 
uel,  giving  an  account  of  the  Philistines  having 
captured  the  ark  of  the  covenant;  they  took  it  from 
one  place  to  another,  but  a  plague  was  produced 
wherever  it  was  detained,  until  many  thousands 
were  dead.  Finally,  to  get  it  out  of  their^  hands, 
t'ley  hitched  up  a  yoke  of  cattle  to  a  cart,  and  with- 


12(5  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

out  any  driver  started  it  out  of  the  country.  The 
Federals,  however,  varied  somewhat  from  the  Philis 
tines,  for,  instead  of  giving  her  a  cart  and  oxen,  and 
loading  her  down  with  presents  of  gold,  they  took 
her  wagon  and  oxen  and  everything  else  she  had, 
and  left  her  by  the  roadside  in  an  unknown  wilder 
ness. 

On  seeing  me  my  family  was  greatly  relieved  in 
mind,  yet  they  were  in  a  starving  condition,  and  we 
had  nothing  to  divide  with  them.  Believing  that 
the  "  ark  "  might  have  been  left  there  for  the  pur 
pose  of  trapping  me,  I  took  my  position  about  two 
hundred  yards  from  my  family,  and  remained  while 
my  two  comrades  were  gone  after  something  for 
them  to  eat.  After  their  return  I  made  a  fire  for 
my  wife  in  the  woods,  and  gave  her  directions  in 
regard  to  the  course  she  must  travel  in  the  morning, 
in  order  to  reach  the  house  of  our  old  friend.  After 
bidding  them  adieu,  I  was  forced  to  leave  them  in 
their  forlorn  condition.  We  hastened  on  to  our  old 
friend  and  requested  him  to  meet  my  family  as 
early  as  possible,  and  convey  them  to  his  house. 
He  did  so ;  and  in  the  evening  of  the  same  day, 
having  procured  the  use  of  a  team,  we  started  on 
for  Arkansas. 

Col.  McNeal  sent  out  a  party  from  Bloomfield, 
under  Oapt.  Hicks,  who  followed  us  to  the  St.  Fran 
cis  river,  but  we  had  got  across,  and  they  did  not 
venture  very  close  to  the  bank,  having  learned  a 
lesson  from  me  on  my  upward  trip  a  short  time  be 
fore. 


SAMUEL   S.    HILDEB&ANB.  127 

We  arrived  safely  at  Capt.  Bolin's  carnp,  and  my 
family  was  soon  safely  housed  and  supplied  with 
the  necessaries  of  life,  in  the  charming  little  com 
munity  where  a  score  of  pleasant  families  resided. 


128  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Put  in  a  crop.- — Took  another  trip  to  Missouri  with  six  men. 
— Surrounded  in  a  tobacco  barn. — Killed  two  men  in  escaping. 
— Killed  Wammack  for  informing  on  him. — Captures  some 
Federals. — and  releases  them  on  conditions. — "Went  to  Big 
River  Mills. — Robbed  Highley's  and  Bean's  stores. 

•  Having  succeeded  in  getting  my  family  to  Green 
county,  Arkansas,  I  settled  on  a  piece  of  land  whose 
owner  had  left  for  parts  unknown,  intending  to  hold 
the  same  until  the  owner  should  return.  During 
the  month  of  April,  1863,  I  was  an  "  honest  farmer," 
and  by  the  10th  day  of  May  I  finished  planting  a 
field  of  corn,  while  at  the  same  time  my  wife  put  in 
a  large  garden. 

At  this  occupation  I  enjoyed  myself  very  well 
for  a  while;  I  got  some  chickens,  a  few  pigs,  and  a 
milch  cow,  so  that  my  family  could  get  along  with 
out  materially  interfering  with  my  main  object  in 
life — that  of  killing  my  enemies. 

The  boys  were  now  anxious  to  make  another  trip 
to  Missouri ;  so  I  took  six  men  and  started  for  Cas 
tor  creek,  in  Madison  county,  after  some  notorious 
scamps  who  had  been  giving  us  trouble  on  previous 
trips,  by  putting  the  Federals  on  our  trail,  besides 
the  constant  annoyance  they  gave  Southern  citi 
zens  in  that  country,  by  reporting  them  to  the  Fed 
erals. 


SAMUEL   S.    IHLDEBRAND.  129 

We  passed  west  of  Bloomfield  through  the  South 
ern  part  of  Madison  county,  arriving  in  the  neigh 
borhood  about  daylight  on  the  morning  of  the  fourth 
day  from  home,  secreted  our  horses,  leaving  three 
men  to  guard  them,  while  myself  and  the  others 
proceeded  to  spy  out  the  men  for  whom  we  had 
come  in  search.  We  did  not  succeed  in  finding  any 
of  them,  and  after  returning  to  our  camp  in  the 
woods  at  sunset,  we  went  to  an  old  friend's  about 
three  miles  distant,  where  we  could  get  a  night's 
sleep,  and  something  to  eat  for  ourselves  and  horses. 

On  arriving,  our  old  friend  received  us  kindly,  but 
told  us  that  as  he  was  not  well  we  would  be  under 
the  necessity  of  taking  care  of  our  own  horses,  which 
we  were  very  willing  to  do.  After  supper  we  tied 
our  horses  in  a  neighboring  thicket ;  but  as  the 
weather  was  rather  inclement,  we  repaired  to  an  old 
tobacco  barn  for  shelter;  it  was  about  one  hundred 
yards  from  the  woods  on  one  side,  and  about  two 
hundred  on  the  other.  Here  we  slept  soundly, 
keeping  one  man  on  watch  all  the  time,  but  as  we 
had  not  slept  more  than  one  hour  in  each  twenty-four 
since  starting,  our  sentinel  fell  asleep.  In  the  morn 
ing  I  went  out  to  take  a  peep  at  the  weather,  and 
was  saluted  by  a  shot  that  struck  a  board  just  above 
my  head.  I  sprang  into  the  barn,  raised  the  alarm, 
and  took  a  peep  at  the  position  of  our  enemies. 
They  were  about  thirty  strong,  and  had  completely 
surrounded  the  barn,  posting  themselves  behind 
stumps  and  old  trees,  but  at  a  distance  of  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  yards. 


130  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

The  extent  of  their  circle  made  their  lines  very 
weak,  and  perceiving  that  they  were  much  the 
strongest  in  front  of  the  barn,  I  ordered  my  men  to 
remove  the  underpinning  from  one  place  in  the  rear 
of  the  house.  We  crept  through  this  aperture,  and 
lay  on  the  ground  at  the  back  of  the  building,  being 
protected  from  observation  by  a  pile  of  rubbish. 
I  proposed  taking  the  lead,  and  directed  my  men  to 
follow  in  a  straight  line,  but  to  keep  twenty  or 
thirty  feet  apart.  I  arose  and  started  at  full  speed  ; 
but  before  I  got  fifty  yards,  all  the  Federals  who  were 
insight  of  me,  fired  off  their  guns  ;  yet  I  was  not 
killed,  but  felt  a  stinging  sensation  on  the  point  of 
my  shoulder,  which  afterwards  proved  to  be  a  slight 
ebrasion,  caused  by  a  musket  ball.  On  reaching 
the  line,  I  shot  the  two  men  with  my  revolver  who 
were  guarding  that  point,  without  making  the  least 
halt ;  but  I  could  not  help  feeling  a  thrill  of  pity  for 
them  and  wished  that  they  were  again  alive  and  on 
my  side,  for  they  were  brave  men  and  faced  the 
music  nobly,  but  missed  their  aim. 

My  men  followed  me  through  to  the  woods  un 
hurt,  save  one  poor  fellow,  who  was  pierced  by  a 
musket  ball  just  as  he  reached  the  edge  of  the  tim 
ber. 

On  reaching  the  woods,  which  were  very  thick, 
we  felt  much  relieved,  and  were  quite  at  home.  We 
reached  our  horses,  and  fearing  that  the  Federals 
might  find  them,  we  mounted  and  rode  back  to  give 
them  a  little  brush ;  but  finding  them  all  gone,  we 
made  our  way  around  to  our  friend  in  whose  barn  we 


SAMUEL    S.    HILDEBRAND.  131 

had  slept,  but  found  that  the  Federals  had  killed  him, 
and  had  committed  many  other  depredations  about 
the  place  before  leaving.     Our  kind  lady,  who  had 
thus  so  unexpectedly  been  made  a  widow,  was  suffer 
ing  the  pangs  of  uncontrollable  sorrow,  but  from  her 
broken  sentences  we   learned  that  a  citizen  by  the 
name  of  Wammack  was  with  the  soldiers,  and  was 
probably  the  informant   at  whose   instigation  the 
whole  tragedy  had  been  brought  about,  and  that  as 
the  soldiers  left  in  the  direction  of  Fredericktown, 
he  took  the  road  toward  his  house.     We  concluded 
to  try,  and  if  possible,  to  get  Wammack.    I  ordered 
three  of  my  men  to  take  the  horses  out  of  the  neigh 
borhood,  to  travel  over  ground  where  they  would 
occasionally  make  plain  tracks,  until  they  got  to  a 
certain  creek,  eight  or  ten   miles  off,  then  to  turn 
back,  keeping  in  the  creek  some  distance,  and  then 
to  secrete  themselves  in  the  bushes  near  the  resi 
dence  of  one  Mr.  Honn.    Our  arrangements  having 
been  completed,  we  separated  ;  myself  and  my  two 
men  had  not  proceeded  far,   keeping  all  the  time 
near  the  road,  before  we  discovered  three  men  com 
ing  from  the  direction  of  Wammack's  house.   When 
they  were  near  us,  we  hailed  them,  and  leaving  our 
guns,  we  stepped  out  into  the  road  where  they  were 
and  inquired  the  way  to  Cape  Girardeau.    We  told 
them  that  we  had  obtained  furloughs  at  Ironton  the 
day  before,  and  were  on  our  way  to  Illinois  to  see  our 
families,  but  that  a  few  miles  back  we  met  some  sol 
diers,  who  stated  that  they  had  got  into  a  skirmish 
with  the  bushwhackers  and  were  going  to  Freder- 


132  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

icktown  to  bring  out  the  whole  force  ;  so  we  con 
cluded  to  hide  in  the  woods  until  they  returned. 

They  mistook  us  for  Federal  soldiers,  sure  enough, 
and  one  of  them  related  the  whole  circumstance  in 
a  very  jubilant  manner,  stating  that  he  was  with 
the  soldiers  at  the  time,  that  they  had  killed  four  of 
the  bushwhackers  and  the  old  Rebel  who  had  har 
bored  them,  and  that  if  he  had  his  way  he  would 
burn  up  the  whole  premises.  I  suggested  that  we 
had  better  go  to  the  main  road  and  wait  until  the 
force  came;  but  he  objected,  for  the  reason  that  he 
wished  to  see  who  buried  the  dead  bushwhackers. 

By  this  time  I  thought  I  could  venture  to  ask  him 
his  name,  and  after  telling  mo  that  his  name  was 
Wammack,  and  that  he  was  "  all  right,"  he  made  a 
motion  to  proceed,  at  which  we  drew  our  revolvers 
and  told  him  that  he  was  a  prisoner.  The  other  two 
having  answered  a  sign  which  I  made  while  talking 
to  Wammack,  I  saw  that  they  were  "all  right"  in 
stead  of  him.  I  told  them  that  they  could  go,  but 
requested  them  to  bury  the  dead,  which  they  cheer 
fully  agreed  to  do. 

Just  as  this  conversation  ended,  Wammack  sud 
denly  jerked  out  his  revolver  and  attempted  to 
shoot  one  of  my  men  and  broke  to  run ;  the  move 
ment  was  so  sudden  and  so  unexpected  that  he  got 
nearly  forty  yards  before  we  succeeded  in  killing 
him. 

We  then  left  that  part  of  the  country  and  went  (o 
Wayne  county;  while  stopping  there  for  supper  at 
the  house  of  an  old  Rebel,  a  young  man  came  in 


staled  that  about  five  miles  from  there,  on  iost 
creek,  he  saw  some  Federals  putting  up  for  the  night; 
on  receiving  this  pleasing  information,  we  deter 
mined  to  go  and  take  them  "  out  of  the  wet,"  as  one 
of  my  boys  expressed  it,  and  after  feeding  our  horses 
and  taking  our  rations,  we  were  soon  on  our  way 
for  that  purpose. 

We  found  the  place  without  much  difficulty,  made 
our  way  to  the  house  and  knocked  at  the  door.  The 
man  of  the  house  came,  and  in  answer  to  our  ques 
tions,  stated  that  there  were  live  Federals  sleeping 
in  the  stable  loft,  and  that  their  horses  were  in  the 
stable.  After  telling  the  old  man  who  we  were, 
and  ordering  him  not  to  leave  the  house,  we  pro 
ceeded  to  surround  the  stable,  which  stood  in  the 
middle  of  a  lot  of  perhaps  about  half  an  acre.  Our 
positions  having  been  taken,  I  set  fire  to  a  hay  stack 
that  stood  in  the  corner  of  the  lot,  nearly  in  front  of 
the  stable  door.  When  the  hay  blazed  up,  the  light 
shone  so  suddenly  on  the  Federals  that  they  sprang 
to  their  arms  in  a  great  fright.  I  hailed  them,  de 
manding  their  surrender,  and  told  them  that  I  was 
Sam  Hildebrand,  and  that  I  and  my  twenty  men  had 
them  completely  in  our  clutches,  but  that  if  they 
would  surrender  without  firing  a  gun,  I  would  let 
them  off  on  easy  terms.  To  this  they  gladly  ac 
ceded,  and  coming  down  from  the  loft,  they  piled 
their  arms  in  the  lot.  I  ordered  two  of  my  men  to 
extinguish  the  fire  that  had  caught  in  the  fence, 
and  then  proceeded  to  negotiate  with  our  prisoners, 
which  was  done  jn  a  friendly  and  satisfac-tory  man- 


134  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

ner.  Kough  jokes  were  passed  back  and  forth  with 
perfect  freedom,  and  they  repeated  some  of  the 
many  tales  of  blood  circulated  in  camps  about  me, 
in  which  I  was  represented  as  a  hero  more  daring 
and  dreadful  than  "Jack  the  Giant  Killer." 

At  this  time  there  were  two  of  Capt.  Bolm's  men 
in  prison  at  Ironton,  who  had  been  captured  while 
on  a  scout  up  Black  river  in  Reynolds  county,  Mis 
souri;  and  as  my  prisoners  belonged  to  the  com 
mand  stationed  at  that  place,  I  proposed  to  them 
that  if  they  would  pledge  themselves  that  by  some 
means  or  other  they  would  manage  to  let  the  two 
boys  escape,  we  would  release  them,  and  permit 
each  one  to  retain  his  private  property.  To  this 
they  agreed;  they  retained  their  pistols,  but  gave 
up  their  guns  and  horses. 

We  all  stayed  until  morning,  took  breakfast  to 
gether  with  the  old  man,  who  seemed  highly  pleased 
at  the  turn  matters  had  taken,  and  occasionally  con 
tributed  to  our  fun  by  some  of  his  timely  jokes. 

After  breakfast  we  separated,  the  Federals  mak 
ing  their  way  on  foot,  carrying  a  pass  from  me,  writ 
ten  by  one  of  my  men,  to  prevent  any  of  our  boys 
from  molesting  them  on  their  way,  should  they  hap 
pen  to  fall  into  their  hands. 

After  a  short  consultation  with  my  men,  we  con 
cluded  that  it  was  about  time  to  make  our  enemies 
in  St.  Francois  county  pay  their  taxes  to  the  South 
ern  Confederacy.  On  the  evening  of  the  last  day 
of  May,  we  rode  into  the  little  town  at  Big  River 
Mills,  and  made  a  haul  on  the  store  of  John  R 


SAMUEL    S.    HILDEBRANti.  135 

Highley,  but  not  being  certain  of  his  politics,  we 
were  very  light  on  him.  We  then  went  six  miles 
further  to  John  Bean's  store  on  Flat  river,  arriving 
there  about  11  o'clock  in  the  night.  We  knew  him 
to  be  a  strong  Union  rnan,  and  we  knew  also  that 
one  of  his  sons  belonged  to  the  Big  river  mob.  We 
supplied  ourselves  with  such  articles  as  were 
needed  by  the  families  at  Capt.  Bolin's  camp. 

In  a  few  days  after  our  arrival  in  Green  county, 
the  two  boys  who  had  been  in  prison  at  Ironton, 
came  in,  and  related  to  us  that  the  guards  who  per 
mitted  them  to  escape,  told  them  all  about  the  con 
tract  they  had  entered  into  with  me.  Those  Fed 
erals  deserve  much  credit  for  keeping  their  word. 


136  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Took  seven  men. — Went  to  Negro  Wool  Swamp. — Attacked 
fifteen  or  twenty  Federals. — A  running  fight. — Killed  three. — 
Killed  Crane. — 'Betrayed  by  a  Dutchman.  —  Hemmed  in  a 
house  by  Federals. — Fight  and  escape. —  Killed  eight  sold 
iers. — Caught  and  hung  the  Dutchman. 

Concluding  to  take  a  trip  to  Negro-Wool  Swamp, 
I  selected  seven  good  men,  and  struck  out;  making 
our  way  slowly,  we  visited  our  Southern  friends, 
and  passed  off  the  time  very  pleasantly  with  them. 
We  made  but  few  miles  a  day  until  nearing  the 
point  to  which  we  had  started,  the  object  of  our 
trip  being  to  take  in  a  couple  of  very  noisy  Union 
men,  for  the  purpose  of  giving  them  a  nice  necktie 
of  our  own  make,  manufactured  from  the  textile  fa 
bric  of  nature's  own  production  that  we  occasion 
ally  stripped  from  the  thrifty  young  hickories  in  the 
shady  woods.  But  while  we  were  on  the  lookout 
for  them,  a  scout  of  Yankees,  fifteen  or  twenty  in 
number,  came  into  the  neighborhood,  and  we  con 
cluded  to  let  the  two  meddlesome  Unionists  rest  for 
the  present  and  to  give  the  Federals  a  chase.  We 
ascertained  their  exact  locality,  and  at  sundown  I 
gave  one  of  them  a  dead  shot  from  old  "  Kill-devil," 
which  was  all  that  was  necessary  to  give  them  a 
start,  and  I  assure  you  it  was  "a  running  start." 

Seeing  the  course  they  took,  we  knew  that  they 


SAMUEL   S.   H1LDEBRAND.  137 

were  bound  for  Bloomfield,  so  we  mounted  and 
started  in  pursuit  5  but  they  knew  so  well  who  was 
after  them  that  they  gave  us  no  show  for  a  fight  ; 
however,  being  much  better  acquainted  with  the 
country  than  they  were,  I  made  my  way,  with  one 
of  my  men,  across  on  a  nearer  route,  and  got  in 
ahead  of  them,  while  my  other  boys  kept  up  the 
chase.  We  did  not  beat  them  much,  for  when  we 
had  gained  the  point,  we  heard  them  coming  at  full 
speed,  and  as  they  passed,  we  both  fired  at  the  same 
time ;  only  one  man  fell,  and  as  "  old  Kill-devil"  was 
in  the  habit  of  tearing  a  tolerable  large  hole,  we  had 
no  dispute  about  who  did  it.  From  there  on  to 
within  a  few  miles  of  Bloomfield,  our  chase  was  in 
vain;  a  streak  of  greased  lightning  could  hardly 
have  caught  them.  Knowing  that  a  considerable 
force  would  now  be  sent  out  into  the  vicinity  of 
Negro-Wool  Swamp  to  clear  that  country  of  bush 
whackers,  we  concluded  not  to  return  to  that  place, 
but  wound  our  way  around  south  of  Bloomfield,  and 
ran  suddenly  on  to  a  man  by  the  name  of  Crane,  for 
whom  one  of  Capt.  Bolin's  men  had  been  hunting 
for  more  than  a  year;  as  he  was  not  along,  and  we 
were  acting  as  a  band  of  brothers,  I  took  it  upon 
myself  1,o  shoot  the  fowl.  After  having  done  so,  we 
made  our  way  into  Wayne  county,  where  we  re 
mained  several  days,  enjoying  the  rich  luxuries 
placed  at  our  disposal  by  our  friends  in  that  coun 
try.  We  then  took  a  scout  on  Black  river,  and 
stopped  with  a  German,  who  had  always  professed 
great  friendship  for  us,  and  who,  on  this  occasion, 


138  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

greeted  us  very  warmly,  and  seemed  to  put  himself 
to  a  great  deal  of  inconvenience  to  make  us  com 
fortable;  he  stood  watch  for  us,  as  usual,  while  we 
slept  in  an  unoccupied  house.  Our  minds  being 
free  from  suspicion,  we  slept  quite  soundly  for  three 
or  four  hours,  but  I  was  aroused  by  the  sound  of 
horses'  feet;  and  by  the  time  I  had  awakened  my 
men,  and  made  ready  for  our  escape,  we  were  com 
pletely  surrounded.  Through  a  crack  I  took  a  hasty 
peep,  and  saw  our  old  friend,  the  German,  on  horse 
back  and  in  the  line  of  the  Federal  soldiers. 

At  this  juncture,  two  of  my  men  were  in  favor  of 
surrendering;  I  answered  by  telling  them  to  follow 
me.  There  being  a  dense  forest  in  front  of  the 
house,  not  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards 
off,  I  made  for  it  in  my  fleetest  manner,  holding  my 
gun  in  my  left  hand  and  my  revolver  in  my  right;  I 
would  have  killed  the  Dutchman  as  I  ran,  but  he 
was  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  house  ;  a  whole  vol 
ley  was  fired  at  us  as  we  went,  killing  one  of  my 
men  and  wounding  two  more  slightly,  but  not  suf 
ficiently  to  disable  them  from  duty,  and  giving  me 
four  very  slight  wounds.  As  we  passed  out,  we 
fired  two  or  three  shots  a  piece  with  our  revolvers, 
killing  two  of  their  horses,  and  wounded  one  man 
seriously  in  the  face. 

On  gaining  the  woods  we  felt  very  well  over  our 
narrow  escape,  and  made  our  way  for  a  gap  in  the 
bluff,  about  half  a  mile  off,  through  which  we. knew 
the  Federals  could  not  easily  ride ;  we  gained  the 
point,  stopped  to  rest  ourselves,  and  reloaded  our  pis- 


•Ill 


SAMUEL    S.    HTLDEBRAND.  141 

tols  ;  after  which  we  made  our  way  to  the  top  of  the 
bluff,  and  discovered  through  the  thick  brush,  at  a 
distance  of  not  more  than  two  hundred  yards,  the 
Federals  approaching  slowly  and  cautiously  toward 
us.  I  gave  my  men  orders  to  fire  in  the  same  order 
in  which  they  lay,  that  is  for  our  extremes  to  fire  on 
theirs,  so  that  no  two  men  would  fire  at  the  same 
Federal. 

When  fairly  within  gun  shot  I  gave  the  word  and  we 
1  fired  ;  four  of  them  fell  dead,  and  one  fellow,  badly 
wounded,  broke  down  the  hill  calling  loudly  on  the 
name  of  the  Lord.  Our  rifles  were  quickly  reloaded 
and  we  followed  cautiously  after  them  in  the  direc 
tion  of  our  friend's  house  where  we  came  so  near 
being  taken  in ;  on  gaining  the  edge  of  the  woods 
we  discovered  them  sitting  on  their  horses,  near  the 
house  from  which  we  had  escaped.  They  seemed 
to  be  holding  a  council  of  war ;  one  of  them  who 
had  on  shoulder-straps,  appeared  to  be  making  a 
speech.  The  distance  being  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  yards  some  of  my  men  objected  to  shooting,  but 
I  answered  by  giving  the  word  slowty,  "ready, — aim, 
— fire  !"  At  the  discharge  of  our  rifles,  four  of  them 
fell,  and  the  gentleman  with  shoulder-straps  was 
helped  from  his  horse.  At  this  juncture,  they  began 
to  form  themselves  into  about  twenty  different  lines, 
with  only  one  abreast,  each  man  being  in  advance, 
and  each  one  bringing  up  his  own  rear.  It  was  a 
novel  military  position,  a  kind  of  "nix  cumrous,''  but 
it  worked  well  and  in  almost  an  instant  they  seemed 
to  be  spirited  away,  and  we  saw  no  more  oi  them 


142  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

We  made  our  way  down  Black  river  about  two 
miles  and  camped  for  the  night,  and  the  next  morn 
ing  about  sunrise  I  went  to  the  house  of  a  friend, 
who  lived  back  in  the  woods  to  obtain  provisions  for 
my  men.  He  told  me  that  the  Federals  had  left  for 
Greenville  immediately  after  our  second  round  at 
them,  and  had  given  orders  to  some  citizens  to  bury 
their  dead,  and  on  the  following  day  to  send  the 
horses  to  Patterson,  which  they  left  in  their  care, 
and  which  included  those  they  had  captured  from 
us ;  at  which  place  they  would  meet  them  with  a 
large  force  and  proceed  to  exterminate  the  Bush 
whackers. 

I  obtained  what  provisions  we  wanted  and  has 
tened  back  to  camp.  After  eating  we  hurried  over 
to  the  Patterson  road,  selected  a  good  position,  and 
waited  impatiently  for  the  men  to  come  along  with 
the  horses.  About  ten  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  an 
old  man  about  sixty  years  of  age,  and  three  little  boys 
came  slowly  along  with  them.  After  they  had  ap 
proached  sufficiently  near,  we  stepped  out  and  I 
addressed  the  old  man  in  a  very  friendly  manner, 
and  stated  our  business,  at  which  he  made  some  seri 
ous  objections,  remarking  as  he  removed  his  old  cob- 
pipe,  that  it  was  rather  against  hie  orders,  "  to  de 
liver  the  horses  up  to  Sam  Hildebrand."  As  the  old 
man  gave  the  horses  up,  I  could  easily  perceive  a 
smile  of  secret  satisfaction  lurking  about  his  face. 
The  little  boys,  however,  were  badly  scared,  smd 
seemed  to  realize  the  fact  that  Sam  Hildebrand  had 
them.  We  took  possession  of  the  horses,  fourteen  in 


SAMUEL   S.   HILDEBEAJU).  143 

number,  and  according  to  previous  arrangements, 
five  of  the  boys  struck  for  Green  county,  Arkansas, 
with  them,  while  one  of  them  stayed  with  me,  on 
foot,  for  the  purpose  of  killing  the  German  who  had 
betrayed  Us,  and  thus  came  so  near  having  us  taken 
in,  and  who  had  caused  one  of  the  bravest  men  in 
the  Southern  Confederacy,  to  be  killed.  After  send 
ing  the  old  man  and  the  boys  away  I  took  leave  of 
my  men,  and  with  my  comrade  repaired  to  a  neigh 
boring  hill,  rested  and  slept  by  turns,  until  near 
sunset 

From  the  position  we  occupied  I  had  a  fair  view 
of  the  surrounding  country,  and  particularly  the 
main  road  leading  to  Patterson.  But  during  the  day 
all  was  quiet,  save  when  a  citizen  would  occasion 
ally  pass  along  the  road. 

As  night  approached  we  became  restless  from  in 
action,  and  before  the  sun  had  shed  its  last  rays  up 
on  the  neighboring  hills  we  were  on  our  way  to  the 
scene  of  our  tragedy  the  day  before. 

Arriving  there  before  it  was  entirely  dark  we  took 
our  position  in  the  fence  corner  near  the  house,  and 
here  we  lay  in  silent  impatience  until  the  gray  hor 
izon  warned  us  that  our  watch  for  the  present  was 
ended.  We  quietly  retired  to  the  house  of  a  friend 
for  our  breakfast,  not  having  eaten  anything  ex 
cept  a  piece  of  corn  bread  since  the  morning  be 
fore.  Having  partaken  heartily  of  our  friend's  rough 
but  substantial  fare,  we  again  repaired  to  the  house 
of  our  treacherous  German  enemy,  having  sworn  in 
our  wrath  to  take  his  life  before  leaving  the  country, 


144  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

and  succeeded  in  gaining  a  position  within  one 
hundred  yards  of  his  house  and  directly  in  front  of 
the  door.  Here  we  remained  all  day,  during  which 
time  the  family  seemed  to  be  discharging  their  do 
mestic  duties  very  cheerfully.  About  four  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  two  strange  men  rode  up  to  the 
house  and  held  a  conversation  with  the  lady  for  sev 
eral  minutes  and  then  rode  off  in  the  direction  they 
came,  this  gave  us  some  hope  that  the  Dutchman 
would  soon  be  at  home,  It  was  evident  that  as  he 
had  left  with  the  Federals  the  day  before  in  their 
retreat,  and  in  great  haste,  that  he  had  made  no  ar 
rangements  for  a  long  absence ;  and  it  was  more 
than  probable  that  those  two  men  only  came  to  see 
whether  or  not  the  way  was  clear.  We  felt  indeed 
that  our  most  sanguine  expectations  were  soon  to 
be  realized;  but  the  hour  passed  slowly  on;  we 
changed  our  position  after  dark  to  a  place  in  the 
fence  corner,  near  the  woodpile,  and  here  we  re 
mained  until  the  night  was  half  spent.  Then  we 
were  made  glad  by  the  sound  of  horses'  feet  coming 
from  the  direction  of  Patterson;  as  the  sound  came 
nearer  we  could  easily  perceive  that  the  noise  was 
made  by  only  one  horse. 

Advancing  slowly,  the  Dutchman  approached  the 
house,  alighted  at  the  woodpile  and  tied  his  horse 
to  the  end  of  one  of  the  limbs  within  a  few  feet  of 
us.  Just  then  we  arose  and  demanded  his  surrender. 
The  old  fellow  was  very  badly  alarmed  and  called 
alternately  on  the  Almighty  and  Mr.  Hildebrand  for 
mercy ;  but  I  gave  him  to  understand  that  it  was 


SAMCEL   S,    HILDE BRAND.  145 

useless  for  him  to  beg  for  mercy;  that  he  was  a 
prisoner  and  that  we  expected  to  take  him  to  head 
quarters  as  a  prisoner  of  war.  His  wife  came  out  to 
the  fence  immediately  on  his  arrival,  and  it  was  her 
presence  alone  that  prevented  us  from  shooting  him 
on  the  ground. 

I  guarded  him  while  my  comrade  went  to  the  sta 
ble-to  look  for  another  horse;  but  finding  nothing 
there  but  an  old  mule,  he  came  back  leading  it  with 
a  blind  bridle. 

I  requested  the  lady  to  loan  me  a  saddle,  and  she 
soon  returned  with  her  own  side  saddle,  and  re 
marked  that  it  was  the  only  saddle  on  the  place.  I 
told  her  I  could  not  rob  a  lady  ;  to  keep  the  saddle, 
and  that  I  was  sorry  from  my  heart  to  be  com 
pelled  to  give  her  uneasiness  or  trouble;  that  war 
had  no  mercy,  and  that  through  it  all  I  hoped  that 
she  would  be  protected  from  harm. 

We  tied  the  old  man's  hands  behind  him,  and  then 
tied  him  on  the  mule  without  any  saddle;  at  which 
the  mule  humped  up  his  back,  gave  us  a  specimen 
of  mule  melody  on  a  base  note  that  re-echoed 
among  the  hills,  and  then  became  more  quiet.  We 
started  on  leading  the  horse  and  mule,  but  we  had 
to  stop  several  times  to  let  the  mule  finish  braying, 
for  he  would  not  budge  an  inch  until  he  got  entirely 
through.  We  went  about  a  mile  and  then  proceeded 
to  hang  the  Dutchman.  He  spoke  only  once  and 
then  the  mule  chimed  in,  and  before  he  had  finished, 
the  Dutchman^was  swinging  to  a  limb.  To  render 
his  duplicity  still  more  apparent,  it  should  be  borne 
7 


146  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

in  mind  that  he  was  now  completely  dressed  in  Fed 
eral  uniform,  having  probably  enlisted  during  his 
absence.  Previous  to  the  hanging,  we  had  taken 
from  him  his  pocket  book  and  a  revolver. 

We  now  mounted  the  horse  and  mule,  and  went 
on  about  two  miles,  stopped  at  the  house  of  a  friend 
and  called  for  something  to  eat.  Our  friend,  on 
hearing  what  had  taken  place,  plead  manfully  for 
the  lady  whom  we  had  so  lately  made  a  widow,  sta 
ting  that  she  was  a  good  woman,  recounted  many 
good  deeds  she  had  performed,  and  finished  by  add 
ing  that  she  would  now  be  entirely  dependent  on  the 
charity  of  the  community  for  support,  and  insisted 
on  us  having  the  horse  and  mule  sent  back. 

We  readily  consented  to  this,  and  told  him  also 
that  we  would  much  rather  she  had  the  pocket  book 
also,  for  on  counting  the  money  we  found  that  it 
contained  forty  dollars. 

No  one  could  deliver  the  mule,  horse  and  money 
to  her  without  being  considered  in  some  measure 
implicated.  Finally  it  was  agreed  for  our  friend 
to  take  the  horse  and  mule  back  while  it  was  yet 
night ;  to  leave  them  near  the  premises  and  to  throw 
the  pocket  book  over  the  gate  into  the  yard.  All 
things  being  arranged  we  started  on  foot  for  our 
homes  in  Arkansas,  and  arrived  there  safely. 


SAMUiL   «.   HlLDEBRAm  147 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Took  eight  men. — Attacked  a  Federal  camp  near  Bellinger's 
Mill  at  night. — Lost  two  men  killed  and  one  wounded. — 
His  men  return  to  Arkansas. — He  went  alone  to  St.  Francis 
county.— Watched  the  farm  of  R.  M.  Cole  to  kill  him.— Was 
checked  by  conscience. 

I  remained  two  weeks  at  home  plowing,  and  then 
went  on  a  scout  to  the  vicinity  of  Mingo  Swamp 
with  eight  men.  We  watched  around  for  several 
days  to  capture  some  infamous.scamps  in  that  coun 
try  who  had  been  giving  our  friends  trouble  from 
the  beginning  of  the  war.  Being  too  cowardly  to 
go  into  the  army,  they  were  staying  at  home  and 
were  constantly  annoying  peaceable  citizens  by 
making  false  reports  against  them  of  every  kind. 

Having  failed  to  get  any  of  them,  we  concluded 
to  make  another  trip  over  onto  Castor  Creek,  for  my 
men  were  always  anxious  to  go  to  parts  of  the  coun 
try  frequented  by  the  Federals.  We  had  been  on 
Castor  but  one  day  and  night  when  a  party  of  Fed 
erals  came  along,  making  their  way  through  the 
country,  and  camping  within  a  short  distance  of 
Bellinger's  Mill.  We  were  quietly  enjoying  our 
selves  in  the  nook  of  rocky  range  of  brushy  hills 
when  a  runner  came  to  inform  us  of  the  fact.  Of 
the  exact  number  of  the  Federals  he  did  not  know. 

It  was  with  some  difficulty  that  I  restrained  my 


148  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

men  to  wait  until  a  proper  hour  of  the  night  before 
making  the  attack,  but  finally  about  ten  o'clock  I 
gave  the  word  to  get  ready,  which  was  done  in  a 
very  few  minutes.  Going  around  the  hills  we 
struck  the  main  road  about  a  mile  from  their  camp. 
We  rode  very  slowly  until  we  routed  the  pickets, 
then  dashed  on  and  crowded  them  into  camp;  but 
the  locality  of  their  camp  and  the  position  in  which 
they  had  taken  up  quarters,  had  not  been  stated  to 
us  correctly;  consequently  we  came  oat  somewhat 
worsted. 

They  had  chosen  a  narrow  place  in  the  road,  and 
had  turned  their  wagons  across  it,  so  that  in  our  at 
tempt  to  dash  through  their  camp,  as  was  our  cus 
tom,  we  found  our  progress  suddenly  stopped ;  this 
bothered  us  so  badly  that  they  opened  a  heavy  fire 
on  us,  killing  two  of  my  men  and  wounding  another 
slightly  before  we  had  time  to  retreat.  We  were 
not  certain  of  having  killed  any  of  them,  but  were 
afterwards  told  by  a  citizen  that  we  wounded  three, 
one  of  whom  died  next  morning.  After  this  unfor 
tunate  mistake  my  remaining  men  wanted  to  go 
back  to  Green  county,  Arkansas,  where  our  wound 
ed  companions  could  be  properly  cared  for  ;  to  which 
I  consented,  and  bidding  them  adieu  I  started  alone 
to  St.  Francois  county,  Missouri. 

I  now  thought  this  a  favorable  opportunity  to 
take  vengeance  upon  R.  M.  Cole  for  the  course  he 
had  taken  at  the  time  my  brother  Frank  was  hung  by 
the  Big  river  mob.  That  matter  had  never  yet  been 
redressed,  and  my  mind  was  yet  harrassed  by  con- 


SAMUEL    S.    IJILDEBPAXD.  149 

Hiding  impressions  concerning  his  guilt  or  inno 
cence  in  the  matter.  That  he.  was  a  Southern  man 
I  very  well  knew,  but  that  it  was  his  duty,  as  a  civil 
officer,  to  wrest  my  brother  from  the  clutches  of  a 
merciless  mob  I  knew  equally  well.  I  will  here  re 
mark  that  all  my  evil  impressions  concerning  his 
complicity  in  the  hanging  of  my  brother  have  long 
since  been  entirely  removed  from  my  mind  ;  but  at 
time  of  which  I  am  now  writing,  I  finally  adopted 
the  unwelcome  conclusion  that  he  was  evidently 
guilty.  I  escaped  the  vigilance  of  my  enemies,  and 
of  the  hundreds  of  soldiers  whose  especial  duty  it 
was  to  watch  out  forme;  and  unobserved  by  any 
one  who  would  be  likely  to  inform  against  me,  I 
succeeded  in  reaching  his  farm,  on  Flat  river,  and 
found  to  my  joy  that  he  had  not  yet  finished  plow 
ing.  1  went  around  to  the  back  part  of  the  farm, 
hitched  old  Charley  to  a  sapling  in  the  woods,  and 
taking  old  "Kill-devil"  in  my  hand,  I  cautiously  ap 
proached  the  cornfield  where  I  had  seen  him  plow 
ing  from  a  distance,  and  about  sunset  I  secreted 
myself  in  a  fence  corner  about  ten  rows  from  where 
he  had  plowed  the  last  furrow.  I  waited  until  I  be 
came  satisfied  that  he  had  stopped  for  the  night. 
It  was  now  about  dark. 

I  went  back  to  where  I  had  hitched  my  horse,  un 
saddled  him  and  went  in  search  of  feed.  I  soon 
found  an  abundance  of  oats  already  cut  in  the  field. 
On  my  way  back  I  chanced  to  cross  a  splendid 
melon  patch;  on  the  ripe  melons  1  made  out  my 
Supper,  feeling  thankful  for  my  good  luck  so  far. 


150  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

My  only  chance  now  was  to  wait  until  morning, 
which  I  did,  making  myself  as  comfortable  as  pos 
sible  during  the  night. 

In  the  morning  I  took  my  station  again  in  the 
fence  corner  with  old  "Kill-devil"  already  cocked 
After  a  long  delay,  as  I  thought  it,  he  made  his  ap 
pearance,  following  along  behind  the  plow  and  sing 
ing  most  merrily.  I  was  a  little  frustrated  by  his 
merry  mood,  and  a  strange  weakness  kept  me  from 
firing.  I  thought  I  would  let  him  plow  one  more 
round.  How  I  chuckled  to  myself  as  he  walked  de 
liberately  away  from  me  as  if  nothing  was  about  to 
go  wrong  with  him.  He  came  around  again  as 
merrily  as  before.  I  once  more  raised  old  "Kill-devil" 
to  my  face  and  was  in  the  act  of  pulling  the  trigger, 
when  I  heard  a  stick  crack  in  the  woods  just  as  he 
was  turning.  This  and  some  other  imaginary  noises 
caused  me  to  delay  until  he  was  too  far  off  to  make 
a  sure  shot.  Here  was  a  good  chance  lost.  This  I 
thought  would  never  do,  for  I  was  now  becoming 
quite  nervous;  I  bit  my  fingers  as  I  usually  do  to 
stop  what  hunters  call  the  "buck  ague,"  but  it 
seemed  to  do  me  no  good. 

The  more  I  thought  of  the  matter,  the  more 
nervous  I  got,  and  1  must  acknowledge  that  I  never 
felt  that  way  before  when  I  was  in  a  just  cause,  and 
a  thought  struck  me  that  there  might  be  something 
wrong  in  this  matter  after  all.  I  knew  that  it  would 
never  do  to  remain  squatting  in  the  fence  corner 
any  longer;  that  I  must  either  shoot  or  leave. 

Dan  it  be  possible  that  he  is  innocent  of  the  charge 


SAMUEL  S.  HILDEBIUXD.  151 

brought  against  him  by  my  friends,  and  that  my 
suspicions  are  groundless? 

It  may  be  so  !  I  began  to  think  about  letting  the 
man  live ;  but  the  thought  of  riding  several  hundred 
miles  for  the  express  purpose  of  killing  a  man,  and 
then  to  go  back  without  doing  it,  after  having  had 
such  a  good  chance,  was  a  thought  that  I  did  not 
like. 

While  these  thoughts  were  revolving  in  my  mind 
I  still  set  as  quietly  as  a  mouse.  Once  I  would  have 
got  up  and  left;  but  the  man  was  now  making  his 
third  round,  and  was  too  close  for  me  to  do  so  with 
out  being  seen.  I  deliberately  raised  my  gun  and 
took  a  bead  on  him  to  make  my  decision  while  he 
was  completely  in  my  power — "live  on,  sir  !  live  on!" 
was  my  decision,  and  as  soon  as  he  turned  I  hastily 
left  for  fear  of  being  tempted  again.  I  mounted  my 
horse,  and  as  soon  as  I  thought  he  was  out  of  sight 
among  the  corn  I  rode  away,  and  never  before  in  my 
life  did  I  feel  so  happy  as  I  did  when  I  passed  oppo 
site  the  row  he  was  in.  I  bade  him  a  silent  farewell, 
and  mentally  told  him  to  rest  easy,  for  that  he  never 
should  be  hurt  by  iny  hand. 

On  my  homeward  trip  I  stopped  in  the  vicinity  of 
Bloomfield  (which  was  still  in  the  hands  of  the 
Federals)  in  order  to  pay  my  respects  to  Captain 
Hicks.  He  was  the  commander  of  the  company 
which  followed  me  and  my  family  to  the  St.  Francis 
river;  and  boasted  that  he  was  the  man  who  shot 
me  at  the  Flat  Woods.  Not  being  disposed  to  rob 
him  of  his  honors,  I  was  willing  to  admit  that 


152  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

he  did  the  act,  and  to  govern  myself  accordingly. 

I  lay  around  his  residence  four  days  and  nights, 
getting  my  provisions  out  of  his  smoke-house,  be 
fore  he  made  his  appearance. 

On  the  evening  of  the  fourth  day  he  rode  up  to  his 
house,  and  in  a  few  minutes  walked  out  with  his  wife 
into  the  garden. 

I  walked  up  to  the  garden  fence  and  spoke  to  him; 
he  seemed  agitated  and  started  toward  the  house  ;  I 
raised  my  gun,  halted  him,  and  told  him  to  come  to 
me  as  I  wanted  to  talk  a  little  to  him.  He  halted 
and  with  some  reluctance  walked  toward  me,  and  on 
getting  within  a  few  paces  he  asked  me  who  I  was. 
I  told  him  that  I  was  Sam  Hildebrand ;  that  I  under 
stood  he  had  been  hunting  for  me  for  some  time, 
and  I  thought  I  would  come  by  and  see  what  he 
wanted.  At  this  he  made  a  lick  at  me  with  a  hoe 
which  he  held  in  his  hand,  and  came  very  near  hit 
ting  me ;  but  in  a  moment  I  ended  his  existence  by 
shooting  him.  I  eluded  all  search  and  effected  my 
escape  to  Arkansas. 


SAMUEL   S.   II1LDEJ5RAND.  153 


CHAPTER  XX. 

Trip  to  Hamburg  with  fifteen  men. — Hung  a  Dutchman  and 
shot  another. — Attacked  some  Federals  in  Hamburg,  but  got 
gloriously  whipped. — Retreated  to  Coon  Island. — Return  to 
St.  Francis  river. — Killed  Oiler  at  Flat  Woods. — Robbed 
Bean's  store  at  Irondale. 

About  the  middle  of  August,  1863,  at  the  solici 
tation  of  two  brave  boys  who  had  kindly  assisted 
me  on  several  trips  to  St.  Francois  county,  and  ex 
pected  my  assistance  in  return,  I  started  to  a  small 
place  called  Hamburg;  with  fifteen  men  under  my 
command. 

We  wished  to  take  in  three  or  four  .Dutchmen  who 
had  given  the  relatives  of  my  two  men  a  great  deal 
of  trouble,  causing  them  to  be  robbed,  and  in  some 
instances  imprisoned. 

We  crossed  into  Butler  county,  and  then  into 
Stoddard;  passing  south  and  east  of  Bloomfield,  we 
crossed  Little  river  abo^e  Buffington,  and  entered 
Scott  county.  By  traveling  altogether  in  the  night 
we  created  no  disturbance  until  we  got  near  the 
point  to  which  we  were  aiming. 

About  ten  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  we  rode  up  and 
surro  unded  the  house  of  one  of  the  men  whom  we 
were  a  fter.  He  recognized  us  as  Union  soldiers  and 
came  out  without  being  called.  He  commenced  ad. 
dressing  us  in  Dutch,  but  I  told  him  that  we  did  not 


154  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

belong  to  that  persuasion;  he  then  began  speaking 
broken  English  and  still  advanced  toward  us.  When 
in  the  act  of  extending  his  hand  toward  one  of  ray 
men  who  was  nearest  to  him,  he  suddenly  c^scovered 
his  unfortunate  mistake,  and  called  to  his  wife  who 
was  yet  in  the  house.  The  whole  family  came  out, 
placed  themselves  in  a  group  near  us  and  implored 
us  in  broken  English  to  spare  their  father.  To  the 
bottom  of  my  heart  I  cursed  the  man  who  first  in 
vented  war;  but  as  war  on  one  side  and  mercy  on 
the  other  would  only  lead  to  death,  we  marched  our 
Dutchman  off  about  a  mile  and  hung  him  to  a  lean 
ing  tree.  About  one  hour  afterwards  we  came  to 
the  house  of  another  of  those  cunning  informers  ; 
he  broke  out  at  a  back  door  and  ran  so  fast  that  we 
all  had  to  fire  before  we  brought  him  down. 

We  now  pushed  on  to  get  a  couple  more  who 
lived  at  Hamburg,  but  on  entering  the  place  we 
were  met  by  a  volley  of  musket  shots  which  made 
our  ears  ring.  One  of  my  men  was  killed  on  the 
spot,  at  which  we  charged  the  enemy,  seeing  that 
their  numbers  were  only  about  twelve.  They  took 
refuge  behind  an  old  dilapidated  frame  house;  and 
while  I  placed  some  of  my  men  in  positions  to  com 
mand  both  ends  of  the  building,  others  marched  up 
to  the  front  of  the  house  and  set  it  on  fire. 

By  this  time  the  shooting  had  attracted  the  atten 
tion  of  other  Federals  in  the  vicinity,  who  came  to 
the  rescue,  and  before  we  were  aware  of  their  pre 
sence  we  were  nearly  surrounded.  We  made  a  dash 
to  clear  their  lines,  and  in  the  attempt  four  of  my 


SAMUEL    S.    HILt)£BRAKD.  155 

men  were  badly  wounded,  but  none  of  them  killed. 

I  began  to  think  that  I  had  met  with  more  than 
our  match,  for  as  we  retreated  they  followed  us  in  a 
solid  phalanx.  Our  horses  were  put  to  the  utmost 
of  their  speed,  our  wounded  were  left  behind,  the 
chase  after  us  was  gloriously  exciting;  we  probably 
gained  a  little  after  we  had  gone  about  two  miles, 
but  they  did  not  by  any  means  give  up  the  chase, 
for  we  were  not  allowed  to  enjoy  anything  that  had 
the  least  resemblance  (o  peace  and  tranquility,  un 
til  we  had  gained  Little  river  and  swam  across  to 
Coon  Island.  We  lost  nearly  everything  we  had  ex 
cept  our  horses  and  they  were  badly  injured;  some 
of  my  men  lost  their  guns,  and  others  lost  every  bit 
of  fight  that  they  formerly  had  in  them.  The  Fed 
erals  made  no  attempt  to  cross  the  river,  but  left  us 
to  brood  over  the  sad  result  of  our  rash  and  incon 
siderate  adventure.  The  whole  matter  looked  to  me 
a  great  deal  like  a  defeat,  and  I  must  confess  that  I 
viewed  it  rather  in  that  light ;  but  if  it  had  been  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  they  would  have  called  it  "  a 
strategic  movement — merely  a  change  of  base." 

We  lost  one  man  killed  and  four  wounded,  prison 
ers  whom  we  supposed  would  be  shot.  In  justice 
to  General  Steele,  however,  I  can  proudly  say  that 
in  this  case  he  did  us  more  than  justice  by  retaining 
our  men  as  prisoners  of  war  and  treating  them  well. 
Their  wounds  were  healed,  and  in  three  months  they 
were  exchanged  and  returned  to  our  Green  County 
Confederacy. 

On  leaving:  Coon  Island  we  struck  the  St.  Francis? 


156 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 


river  at  Twelve  Mile  creek,  and  remained  there 
several  days  recruiting  our  horses.  Not  wishing  to 
be  idle,  I  concluded  that  while  my  men  and  horses 
were  resting,  I  would  take  a  trip  on  foot  to  Flat 
Woods  and  pay  my  respects  to  George  F.  Oiler,  who 
was  so  intent  on  bushwhacking  me  that  he  spent 
most  of  his  time  in  the  woods  watching  for  my  ap 
pearance  on  my  accustomed  routes. 

Aside  from  his  many  boisterous  threats  against 
me  he  was  in  the  habit  of  marking  out  "Old  Sam," 
as  he  called  me,  on  trees  and  shooting  at  the  figure 
at  various  distances.  His  vindictive  spirit  was  not 
manifested  against  me  alone,  but  even  against  the 
children  of  Southern  sympathizers.  At  one  time  he 
went  to  St.  Francis  river  where  some  Southern  boys 
were  in  the  habit  of  bathing,  and  at  the  high  rock 
from  which  they  were  fond  of  plunging,  he  drove 
some  cedar  stakes  and  sharpened  the  upper  ends 
which  were  just  under  the  water. 

Fortunately  when  the  boys  next  went  there  to 
bathe  the  water  had  fallen  a  few  inches,  and  the 
ends  of  the  stakes  exposed  so  that  the  boys  dis 
covered  them  before  making  the  fatal  leap.  Oiler 
of  course  did  all  this  for  the  patriotic  motive  of  sub 
jugating  the  South;  but  the  result  was  that  the 
little  boys  were  saved  and  the  country  lost. 

On  arriving  in  the  neighborhood  I  learned  from  a 
very  kind  German  lady  whom  I  happened  to  meet 
and  who  mistook  me  for  a  Federal,  that  the  hunt 
for  me  was  still  going  on. 

I  learned  also  that  Oiler's  zeal  for  the  good  of  the 


SAACUKL   S.    M1LDEBRAXD.  157 

Union  cause  was  not  in  the  least  abated  by  his 
many  failures  to  hit  my  figure  which  he  had  cut  on 
a  large  oak  near  his  house,  nor  by  his  failure  to  kill 
the  innocent  children  whom  he  was  afraid  would  be 
Rebels  at  some  future  time. 

At  night  I  went  and  inspected  his  premises,  and 
before  daylight  I  took  my  position;  but  the  day 
passed  off  and  he  did  not  make  his  appearance* 
When  night  came  I  repaired  to  the  house  of  a  friend, 
obtained  two  days'  rations,  returned  to  my  ambush, 
and  slept  until  the  first  peep  of  day.  I  was  again 
doomed  to  disappointment;  but  on  the  third  day, 
late  in  the  evening,  as  I  lay  brooding  over  the  many 
failures  I  had  made  to  inflict  justice  upon  those  who 
were  seeking  my  blood,  Mr.  Oiler  made  his  appear 
ance. 

He  walked  slowly  up  to  the  premises  with  his  gun 
on  his  shoulders.  On  getting  to  a  pig  pen  he  got 
over  the  fence  and  commenced  marking  a  pig.  I 
shot  him  through  and  hastily  left  the  place;  oa 
gaining  the  top  of  a  small  hill  a  few  hundred  yards 
off,  I  heard  the  pig  squealing,  for  Mr.  Oiler  had 
fallen  across  it,  and  it  was  not  able  to  extricate 
itself  from  the  trap. 

On  getting  back  to  my  men  I  selected  five  of  them 
to  go  with  me,  and  permitted  the  rest  to  return  to 
Arkansas. 

As  soon  as  it  was  dark  I  started  with  my  five  men 
for  Irondale,  on  the  St.  Louis  and  Iron  Mountain 
railroad. 

after  dark  on  one  evening  in  the  early  part 


15S  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

of  September,  we  entered  the  town.  We  saw  no  sold 
iers  in  the  streets,  and  no  one  else,  except  Dr.  Pos- 
ton,  a  citizen  of  the  place.  We  compelled  him  to 
knock  at  the  door  of  Bean's  store  and  ask  for  admit 
tance  ;  when  this  was  done  wre  entered  without  any 
trouble,  took  all  the  goods  we  could  conveniently 
pack,  and  returned  to  Arkansas  by  the  way  of  Black 
river, 


SAMUEL   S.   IIILDEBRAND.  159 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

Started  with  six  men  for  Springfield,  Missouri. — Deceived  by 
a  Federal  Spy. — Was  captured  through  mistake  by  Rebels, — 
Surprised  on  Panther  creek. — Returned  home  on  foot. 

I  was  under  obligations  to  assist  some  of  my  boys 
in  a  trip  to  the  neighborhood  from  which  they  had 
been  driven,  in  return  for  their  services  on  several 
of  my  trips. 

About  the  middle  of  September,  after  having  only 
rested  about  a  week,  I  started  with  six  men  from 
near  Springfield,  Missouri,  to  make  a  raid  in  the  vi 
cinity  of  that  city.  Not  being  acquainted  with  the 
country  over  which  we  designed  traveling,  I  had 
but  little  to  say  in  regard  to  the  programme  of  our 
intended  raid.  After  our  plans  were  arranged,  we 
started,  taking  with  us  "neither  purse  nor  scrip," 
for  we  intended  to  rely  altogether  on  our  good  for 
tune  for  our  supplies. 

From  Green  county,  Ark.,  we  traveled  through 
Randolph  and  entered  Missouri  in  Ripley  county. 
Here  we  were  detained,  for  one  of  my  men  had  the 
misfortune  to  lose  his  horse.  Having  reached  a 
part  of  the  country  known  as  the  Irish  Wilderness, 
we  concluded  to  rest  a  day  and  hunt. 

In  the  evening  before  we  struck  camp,  a  young 
man,  dressed  in  citizen's  clothes,  who  claimed  to  be 
going  to  the  Rebel  army,  joined  us,  and  asked  per- 


160  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

mission  to  stop  with  us  until  morning.  He  professed 
to  be  going  to  Arkansas,  and  we  readily  consented 
to  entertain  him  as  best  we  could. 

After  the  confusion  incident  to  striking  camp, 
making  fires,  attending  to  our  horses,  etc.,  was  over, 
our  new  companion  began  a  series  of  interrogatories 
relative  to  the  part  of  country  through  which  we 
had  operated,  since  the  beginning  of  the  war.  After 
having  posted  him  thoroughly  in  regard  to  the  field 
of  our  operations,  we  related  to  him  many  thrilling 
incidents  and  daring  adventures  connected  with  our 
history ;  to  all  of  which  he  listened  with  intense  in 
terest,  and  at  the  amusing  parts  of  our  story  he 
laughed  most  heartily.  After  we  grew  tired  of  re 
lating  our  many  dangerous  feats  and  bloody  deeds, 
he  began  his  narrative  of  hair  breadth  escapes  and 
heroic  adventures.  The  field  of  his  operations  hav 
ing  been  Kentucky,  we  were  very  pleasantly  enter 
tained  by  receiving  the  full  accounts  of  several  in 
cidents  of  which  we  had  heard  some  rumors. 

We  had  scarcely  marked  the  transition  from  twi 
light  to  Egyptian  darkness,  so  much  were  we 
pleased  with  our  new  companion's  pleasant  stories, 
when  one  of  my  men  remarked  that  "  the  last  hour 
of  the  day  was  melting  away  into  the  eventful  past." 
Our  programme  for  the  day  following  had  been 
made  by  our  new  comrade,  and  heartily  approved 
by  us  all,  that  we  would  take  an  old  fashioned  deer 
hunt,  among  the  wild  hills  surrounding  us. 

Our  quiet  slumbers  were  scarcely  disturbed  even 
by  the  intermission  of  rolling  over,  until  "  Old  Sol " 


SAMUEL   S.  I11LDEBHOD.  161 

was  looking  us  fair  in  the  face,  as  if  to  read  the  guilt 
of  our  hearts. 

Upon  awakening,  one  word  loudly  spoken,  was 
sufficient  to  bring  the  whole  squad  to  a  half  recum 
bent  position ;  and  as  we  went  through  the  antiqua 
ted  performance  of  rubbing  our  eves,  the  attention 
of  each  one  seemed  to  be  turned  to  the  spot  where 
our  new  comrade  had  deposited  himself  for  a  sleep 
a  few  hours  before.  He  was  gone  1  The  fragment 
of  an  old  log,  that  had  served  him  as  a  pillow,  was 
all  that  was  left  of  him  or  his  bed.  But  this  was 
not  all; — one  of  our  best  horses  was  gone!  We 
cared  but  little  for  the  horse,  so  far  as  his  real  value 
was  concerned,  for  we  had  some  experience  in 
"  raising  horses,"  and  knew  that  we  could  get 
another  on  very  easy  terms,  but  we  did  not  like  the 
idea  of  having  been  gulled  by  a  young  adventurous 
loyalist,  in  the  face  of  the  fact,  too,  that  we  consid 
ered  ourselves  "  shark  proof/' 

Neither  were  we  certain  that  our  misfortunes 
would  end  here,  for  our  "  sharper  "  had  succeeded 
in  getting  our  plans  for  the  entire  trip. 

During  the  preparation  of  our  morning  meal,  the 
subject  of  our  misfortune  was  freely  discussed,  with 
many  conjectures  in  regard  to  who  our  deceiver 
was,  and  the  probable  result  of  his  acquired  infor 
mation. 

A.  majority  of  the  men  were  in  favor  of  continuing 
our  journey,  while  only  one  man  joined  me  in  op 
posing  any  further  movement  in  the  direction  of 
Springfield, 


162  AUTOBIO&RAPH1   OF 

However,  as  it  was  not  my  own  trip,  I  did  not  feel 
at  liberty  to  say  much  about  it ;  not  wishing  to  ap 
pear  obstinate,  I  contented  myself  with  making 
them  a  "humbug"  speech,  for  I  must  confess  that 
the  recollection  of  our  unfortunate  adventure  at  that 
place,  seemed  as  though  it  would  haunt  me  to  the 
grave.  All  my  arguments,  however,  did  no  good, 
the}'  would  not  be  convinced  against  their  own 
will ;  so  I  submitted  cheerfully  to  the  good  old 
democratic  rule  of  going  with  the  majority. 

During  the  day,  myself  and  two  others,  rode  over 
to  the  edge  of  the  settlements  to  get  a  horse  for  our 
pedestrian  "  bushwhacker,"  and  succeeded  in  find 
ing  one ;  but  the  owner  was  a  noted  Rebel ;  our  only 
way  to  sustain  ourselves  in  the  act  was  to  pass  our 
selves  off  for  Union  soldiers,  this  we  did  with  a  very 
good  grace  and  got  the  horse  without  any  resistance. 
In  fact,  he  made  but  little  objection,  for  he  knew 
that  the  "Union  savers"  were  terrible  when  irritated. 

After  going  back  two  or  three  miles  toward  our 
camp  in  the  Wilderness, I  saw  some  deer  on  the  side 
of  an  adjoining  hill,  and  fearing  that  the  boys  in 
camp  had  failed  to  kill  meat  for  our  supper,  selected 
a  nice  buck  and  shot  him  dead  on  the  spot. 

After  having  dressed  the  meat  preparatory  to  car 
rying  it  into  camp,  we  concluded  to  build  afire  and 
broil  some  of  it  for  our  dinner.  While  we  were  thus 
busily  engaged,  all  squatted  around  the  fire,  we 
were  suddenly  saluted  by  a  remarkably  boisterous 
mandate  of  "  surrender !"  at  which  we  sprang  to  our 
feet  with  our  revolvers  in  our  hands  to  find  our- 


SAMUEL   S.   HILDEBRASD.  163 

selves  confronted  by  five  of  Capt.  Bolin's  men,  who 
had  left  Green  county,  Arkansas,  a  few  days  before 
us,  and  were  on  a  visit  to  see  some  friends  in  the 
neighborhood,  from  one  of  whom  we  had  taken  the 
horse.  We  had  anything  else  rather  than  a  fight, 
for  we  quickly  recognized  each  other,  and  a  general 
congratulation  was  the  only  military  demonstration 
between  us. 

The  five  "  bushwhackers  "  were  concealed  near 
the  house  of  the  old  Rebel  from  whom  we  had  taken 
the  horse,  and  who  had  really  regarded  us  as  Fed 
erals.  As  soon  as  we  had  left  his  house,  he  reported 
us  to  Capt.  Bolin's  men,  who  took  our  trail  and 
tracked  us  to  the  wild  solitudes  of  the  Irish  Wilder 
ness.  We  at  once  decided  on  changing  our  quar 
ters.  I  sent  my  two  comrades  to  the  camp  and  had 
the  boys  to  move  over  to  the  edge  of  the  settle 
ments.  The  old  Rebel,  from  whom  wo  had  taken 
the  horse,  was  our  best  friend;  we  gaire  it  back  to 
Siim,  and  got  another  in  that  neighborhood  on  the 
following  night. 

The  reader,  without  making  any  very  extravagant 
draw  upon  his  imagination,  can  conclude  that  we 
had  a  jolly  time  when  we  all  got  together. 

Our  adventure  with  the  sharper,  my  attempt  to 
steal  the  old  Rebel's  h©rse,  and  our  unconditional 
surrender  in  the  Wilderness  while  broiling  the  veni 
son,  were  the  subjects  discussed.  From  the  boys, 
we  learned  something  more  of  our  adventurous 
Yankee  detective.  He  had  been  in  that  neighbor 
hood  a  week  or  two,  repeating  the  same  story  that 


161  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OJ* 

lie  had  told  us.  He  evidently  thought  that  the 
bushwhackers  were  rather  thick  in  that  neighbor 
hood,  and  concluded  to  leave  it  as  quick  as  possible. 
On  the  following  morning,  our  whole  party,  with 
myself,  took  up  our  march  for  Springfield,  and  in 
the  evening  of  the  same  day  we  reached  the  vicin 
ity  of  Thomasville,  in  Oregon  county.  We  were 
warned  against  traveling  in  the  day  time,  unless  we 
were  hunting  for  a  fight ;  we  assured  our  friends  that 
a  fight  was  the  least  of  our  desire  at  the  present 
time,  the  object  of  our  trip  being  solely  for  the  pur 
pose  of  enabling  some  of  our  boys  to  avenge  certain 
wrongs  received  at  the  hands  of  Union  men  in 

Greene  county,  Missouri.', 

^ —  ^^—~ — ""  \ 

After  rrijalTing  a  tolerable  heavy  draw  ok  some  of 

our  Rebel  friends  for  provisions  and  horseYeed,  we 
again  resujmed  our  journey,  and  the  following  morn 
ing  found  us  in  the  woods,  quartered  for  the  day, 
near  a  small  town  in  Howell  county,  called  Lost 
Gamp,  where  we  remained  all  day. 

A  substantial  old  friend  living  near  by,  brought 
us  two  or  three  bottles  of  "  burst-head,"  which  pro 
duced  the  effect  of  making  some  of  the  boys  be 
lieve  that  they  had  fought  a  great  battte,  and  that 
the  United  States  Government  had  taken  refuge  in 
a  deep  cavern,  the  mouth  of  which  they  had  stop 
ped  with  a  large  ilat  rock,  on  top  of  which  the  boys 
were  dancing.  The  only  question  with  them  seemed 
to  be  what  they  would  do  with  their  twenty  millions 
of  prisoners. 

When  sable  night  again  clad  the  wicked  world  in 


SAMUEL    S.   J11LDEBR.4KD.  165 

half  mourning,  we  resumed  our  journey,  and  on  ap 
proach  of  day,  we  were  in  the  beautiful  little  town 
of  Vera  Cruz,  in  Douglas  county ;  on  the  next  night 
we  reached  Panther  creek,  in  Webster  county.  One 
of  our  men  who  professed  to  be  acquainted  in  that 
neighborhood,  went  to  a  pretended  Rebel  friend  to 
get  supplies,  but  the  old  fellow  flatly  refused  to  give 
him  anything.  I  was  a  little  amused  at  the  disap 
pointment  of  the  boys,  and  at  the  dilemma  in  which 
they  were  placed.  I  could  not  help  thinking  how 
different  I  would  have  acted  on  a  raid  of  my  own. 

About  ten  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  we  were  sur 
prised  by  a  party  of  Federal  soldiers,  numbering 
perhaps  about  sixty  men.  Before  we  were  aware 
of  their  presence  they  charged  upon  us  at  a  most 
furious  rate,  yelling  and  shooting  at  us  most  fear 
fully.  A  mere  glance  at  the  party  was  sufficient  to 
convince  me  that  an  attempt  at  resistance  would  be 
worse  than  folly.  I  sprang  to  my  feet,  yelled  out 
to  the  boys  to  run;  but  having  no  time  to  mount 
our  horses,  we  had  to  depend  upon  our  own  fleet- 
ness  for  our  escape.  In  our  retreat  through  the 
dense  forest,  we  had  the  advantage  over  our  ene 
mies ;  I  and  four  others  managed  to  keep  together 
for  about  a  mile  ;  not  seeing  any  pursuers,  we  took 
our  position  on  a  high  hill,  and  remained  there  un 
til  late  in  the  evening.  While  keeping  a  vigilant 
watch  over  the  surrounding  country,  we  discovered 
one  of  our  men  emerging  cautiously  from  a  denso 
thicket  in  the  valley  at  the  foot  of  the  hill. 

He  seemed  terribly  frightened.    I  made  my  way 


1G6  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

down  the  hill  to  within  a  hundred  yards  of  him,  and 
then  called  him  by  name  ;  but  it  was  some  time  be 
fore  he  recognized  me.  Fortunately  for  us,  this  man 
was  acquainted  with  the  country  through  which  we 
would  have  to  pass  in  making  our  way  back  to  Ar 
kansas.  The  tops  of  the  highest  hills  were  yet  bask 
ing  in  the  sun's  last  lingering  rays,  when  we  started 
on  our  perilous  journey  of  two  hundred  miles  on 
foot,  without  any  blankets,  provisions,  or  anything 
else,  except  our  pistols  and  one  gun,  for  I  had  made 
my  escape  with  old  "  Kill-devil  "  in  my  hand.  The 
next  morning  about  daylight,  we  ran  into  a  gang  of 
sheep,  succeeded  in  catching  one,  and  made  our 
way  down  into  a  deep  ravine,  where  we  could  not 
be  discovered.  There  we  built  a  fire  and  fared 
sumptuously.  We  continued  on  during  the  night, 
and  the  next  day  I  killed  a  deer.  On  the  following 
night  we  reached  our  friend  near  Yera  Cruz,  and 
here  we  met  another  one  of  our  boys,  but  he  was  no 
better  posted  in  regard  to  the  fate  of  our  company 
than  myself. 

I  will  not  weary  the  patience  of  my  reader  by  de 
tailing  the  many  privations  incident  to  our  trip ;  suf 
fice  it  to  say  that  we  did  get  back  to  Arkansas ;  and 
that  fortunately  for  me  I  never  received  an  invita 
tion  to  take  another  trip  to  Springfield  under  the 
command  of  an  unexperienced  leather-head. 

About  a  week  after  arriving  in  camp,  another  one 
of  the  boys  came  in,  looking  somewhat  subjugated. 
I  afterwards  learned  that  two  of  our  men  were 
killed  when  we  were  routed,  and  that  the  others 


SAMUEL   S.   HILDEBKASD.  167 

were  taken  prisoners,  none  of  whom  ever  returned 
during  the  war. 

I  have  cautioned  the  boys  never  again  to  imagine 
themselves  dancing  on  the  flat  rock  covering  the 
prison  door  of  the  defunct  Yankee  nation,  lest  they 
might  unexpectedly  find  some  of  them  yet  running 
at  large. 


168  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

Started  with  four  men. — Surrounded  in  a  thicket  near  Predericktown.— 
Escaped  with  the  loss  of  three  horses. — Stole  horses  from  the  Federals 
at  night.— K.lled  two  Federal  Soldiers.— Suffered  from  hunger.— Killed 
Fowler, — Got  a  horse  from  G.  W.  Murphy.— Went  to  Mingo  Swamp. 
"-Killed  Cootu  for  betraying  him, — Killed  a  soldier  and  lost  two  men, 

I  selected  four  good  men  and  started  on  another 
trip  to  St.  Fraacois  county,  Missouri,  on  the  10th  of 
November.  We  traveled  altogether  in  the  night ; 
arriving  in  the  vicinity  of  Fredericktown  about  mid 
night,  we  stopped  at  the  house  of  a  well-known 
friend,  who  expressed  a  great  deal  of  surprise  at  see 
ing  us  there,  stating  that  the  cry  of  "  Hilde brand," 
had  been  raised  ia  the  community  abouc  ten  days 
previous,  and  that  the  Federals,  with  the  assistance 
of  citizens,  had  been  scouting  the  woods  between 
that  place  and  Farmington  ever  since.  He  was  no 
little  amused  when  we  told  him  that  the  report 
was  utterly  false,  and  that  we  were  on  a  scout  out 
westward  at  the  time. 

The  report  of  my  having  been  in  that  part  of  the 
country  ten  days  previous,  I  was  satisfied  would 
work  favorably  to  the  success  of  our  present  enter 
prise,  for  it  was  not  probable  that  they  would  make 
another  search  so  soon  after  having  made  one  so 
thoroughly. 


SAMUEL  S.  HILDEBRAND  169 

From  there  we  went  to  a  dense  thicket  near  the 
residence  of  Mr.  North,  and  being  very  tired  and 
sleepy,  we  lay  down,  and  slept  very  soundly  until 
the  morning  sun  was  looking  down  upon  our  quiet 
retreat.  Our  old  friend  had  supplied  us  with  two 
days'  rations  and  some  shelled  corn  for  our  horses, 
so  we  had  a  complete  outfit  for  a  good  rest. 

Whilst  lying  lazily  around  our  horses,  planning 
the  future  of  our  trip,  we  were  suddenly  startled  by 
the  sound  of  a  gun  near  by,  which  was  evidently 
discharged  at  one  of  us.  A  moment,  however,  was 
sufficient  to  satisfy  me  in  regard  to  the  nature  of  the 
case;  we  had  been  spied  out,  our  horses  tracked  up, 
and  our  thicket  surrounded.  At  a  bound  I  lit  in  my 
saddle  and  was  soon  out  of  the  thicket  in  an  oppo 
site  direction  from  where  the  gun  was  fired.  On 
reaching  the  open  ground,  I  discovered  the  Federals 
coming  around  the  woods,  not  having  yet  completed 
their  circle.  They  fired  on  me,  but  the  distance 
was  too  great,  and  I  remained  unhurt.  My  men  had 
not  taken  time  to  mount  their  horses,  but  as  they 
followed  me  on  foot,  one  of  them  received  a  bruise 
on  his  back  from  a  spent  ball.  In  a  few  minutes 
our  complete  escape  was  effected,  with  no  damage 
but  the  loss  of  four  good  horses.  The  Federals  fol 
lowed  us  closely  for  about  a  mile,  when  we  got  far 
enough  ahead  to  give  them  the  dodge  by  turning  at 
right  angles  into  the  St.  Francis  river  bottom.  We 
made  our  way  back  to  within  a  mile  of  Frederick- 
town,  where  we  remained  the  rest  of  the  day.  When 

night  came  we  went  in  quest  of  our  pursuers ;  we 
S 


170  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

found  them  camped  in  a  lane  about  six  miles  north 
west  from  Fredericktown. 

Our  object  now  was  to  get  horses.  We  made  our 
way  on  foot  toward  them,  but  found  that  the  end  of 
the  lane  was  guarded;  we  went  around  to  the  other 
end  and  found  it  guarded  also,  while  the  horses 
were  in  the  middle,  tied  to  one  of  the  fences.  We 
then  went  around  through  the  field,  laying  down 
the  outside  fence  very  carefully,  and  approached 
the  lane  fence  on  the  opposite  side  from  where  the 
horses  were  tied.  The  night  was  very  dark,  but  we 
could  distinctly  see  a  sentinel  slowly  walking  his 
beat  of  about  fifty  yards,  ourselves  being  at  the  end 
of  the  beat.  When  his  back  was  turned,  I  laid  the 
fence  down  easily ;  we  sprang  to  a  horse  a  piece, 
cut  the  halters,  mounted,  and  were  off  at  full  speed 
before  he  turned  on  the  other  end  of  his  beat. 

Our  hasty  flight  of  course  raised  an  alarm  in  the 
camp,  but  we  saw  no  more  of  the  Federals  that 
night.  Being  again  mounted,  we  resolved  to  give 
them  employment  for  a  few  days  in  hunting  us,  and 
for  that  purpose  we  took  up  our  quarters  in  a  place 
least  expected,  by  going  within  a  mile  of  Frederick- 
town  onto  a  certain  eminence,  after  having  made 
a  circuit  around  the  side  of  a  hill. 

On  the  following  day  we  slept  by  turns  ;  I  killed 
a  pig  with  my  knife  near  the  house  of  a  farmer,  and 
cooked  it  in  a  deep  ravine  where  the  fire  could  not 
be  observed;  during  the  previous  night  we  had 
stolen  a  sufficiency  of  feed  for  our  horses.  I  con 
cluded  to  go  into  Fredericktown  to  get  a  supply  of 


SAMUEL   S.  HILDEBRAND.  171 

ammunition,  which  I  did  about  ten  o'clock  in  the 
night,  by  meeting  with  an  old  friend  there  who 
bountifully  supplied  us  with  all  we  needed. 

We  moved  seven  or  eight  miles  in  the  direction 
of  Pilot  Knob,  supplying  ourselves  with  horse-feed 
and  provisions  on  the  move. 

When  morning  again  made  its  appearance,  I  left 
my  men  in  charge  of  the  horses,  and  after  instruct 
ing  them  where  to  meet  me  again  in  case  of  trouble, 
I  went  to  the  gravel  road  for  the  purp  ose  of  killing 
a  Federal  or  two.  I  concealed  myself  near  the  road, 
and  about  10  o'clock  in  the  day,  two  came  along 
and  I  let  old  "  Kill-devil "  off  at  one  of  them.  They 
wheeled  suddenly  around  and  started  back  in  the 
direction  of  Pilot  Knob ;  the  one  I  shot  was  badly 
wounded  and  bled  freely.  Only  an  hour  afterwards 
a  squad  of  perhaps  ten  came  from  the  direction  of 
Fredericktown.  It  was  a  quandary  in  my  mind 
whether  it  was  best  to  take  a  pop  at  them  or  not,  a 
feeling  of  revenge  settled  the  matter.  I  fired,  and 
one  fell;  at  this  they  put  their  horses  to  full  speed. 
Soon  after  they  were  out  of  sight,  another  came 
along  in  a  very  great  hurry  as  if  he  was  endeavor 
ing  to  overtake  the  others ;  on  coming  up  to  the 
dead  man  he  made  a  momentary  halt,  of  which  I 
took  advantage  and  shot  him  through.  I  now  con 
cluded  that  I  had  done  enough  for  the  day,  or 
enough,  at  least,  to  raise  an  excitement,  so  I  went 
back  to  my  men  and  we  moved  about  twelve  miles 
in  the  direction  of  Farmington,  and  near  the  St. 
Francis  river  on  a  high  bluff,  which  afforded  us  pe- 


172  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

culiar  advantages  in  the  event  of  a  fight,  where  we 
were  compelled  to  remain  several  days. 

My  comrade,  who  had  received  a  bruise  on  the 
sp;ne,  had  by  this  time  become  so  disabled  by  that 
slight  injury,  that  he  could  not  ride.  The  little 
amusement  that  I  had  taken  on  the  gravel  road  was 
now  creating  quite  a  stir  in  military  circles,  and 
their  search  for  us  was  carried  on  with  a  zeal  worthy 
of  a  better  cause. 

Having  called  out  the  forces  at  Pilot  Knob,  Fred- 
ericktown  and  Farmington,  with  a  large  majority  of 
the  citizens,  the  search  was  made  thoroughly  and 
in  earnest.  Squads  frequently  passed  in  sight  of  us, 
and  within  easy  gun-shot,  but  none  of  them  as 
cended  the  high  bluff  we  occupied.  On  the  evening 
of  the  third  day  our  provisions  and  horse-feed  gave 
out,  and  e  ach  night  I  went  out  in  search  of  more. 
Obtaining  provender  for  our  horses  was  a  very  easy 
matter,  but  getting  provisions  for  ourselves  was  not 
only  very  difficult  but  extremely  dangerous.  I  knew 
but  few  men  in  the  neighborhood,  and  on  approach 
ing  their  houses  I  invariably  found  our  well-known 
signal  of  danger — a  towel  hung  on  a  nail  outside  of 
the  door.  We  could  easily  have  killed  a  hog  or  a 
sheep,  but  we  could  not  run  the  risk  of  making  a 
fire  to  cook  it.  After  our  provisions  gave  entirely 
out,  we  were  twenty-four  hours  without  any  food. 
During  the  second  night  I  found  some  bacon  in 
somebody's  smoke-house,  I  knew  not  whether  he 
was  a  friend  or  foe,  and  cared  still  less,  but  I  took 
two  hams  to  camp,  which  we  ate  raw. 


SAMUEL   S.   I1ILDEBRAND.  173 

On  the  sixth  night  our  comrade  was  able  to  ride, 
and  we  moved  about  fifteen  miles,  stopping  south 
of  Fredericktown.  Here  a  Mend  supplied  us  with 
the  necessaries  of  life,  and  even  brought  food  to  our 
camp  ready  cooked  for  our  use. 

Our  wounded  companion,  who  was  too  much  dis 
abled  to  take  any  part  in  a  raid,  now  obtained  leave 
to  return  to  Arkansas  alone,  while  I  and  my  other 
men  started  on  a  trip  to  St.  Francois  county. 

While  living  at  Flat  Woods,  I  became  acquainted 
with  a  man  named  John  Fowler.  He  professed  to 
be  a  strong  Southern  man,  and  having  perfect  con 
fidence  in  his  veracity,  I  entrusted  him  with  many 
things  in  regard  to  my  plans,  that  I  withheld  from 
the  rest  of  my  neighbors ;  but  about  the  time  that  I 
was  run  off  from  there  by  the  Federals,  my  friend 
Fowler  joined  the  Union  army. 

On  receiving  this  intelligence,  I  felt  much  morti 
fied,  and  concluded  at  once  that  he  had  betrayed  me, 
notwithstanding  he  sent  me  word  on  several  oc 
casions  that  I  need  not  fear  him.  His  duplicity, 
however,  was  so  apparent  that  I  determined  to  kill 
him  on  sight;  this  I  had  some  hope  of  doing,  as 
he  seemed  to  enjoy  some  liberties,  and  often  came 
into  the  neighborhood,  but  generally  in  company 
with  other  soldiers.  On  every  visit  he  came  to  my 
house  and  conversed  pleasantly  with  my  wife,  but  I 
regarded  him  rather  as  a  spy. 

As  we  were  traveling  along  on  the  present  oc 
casion,  I  run  suddenly  on  him  about  five  miles 
southwest  from  Fredericktown.  We  met  in  a  nar- 


174  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

row  path,  and  before  he  hardly  had  time  to  recog 
nize  me,  I  shot  and  killed  him  instantly. 

I  will  here  state  that  I  had  cause  to  regret  this 
act  afterwards,  for  I  ascertained  that  he  had  de 
serted  the  Federals,  and  was  on  his  way  South  to 
join  the  "  bushwhacking  department "  of  the  South 
ern  army. 

After  passing  Fredericktown  in  the  night,  we 
learned  that  several  companies  of  Federals,  Home 
Guards  and  Militia,  were  hunting  for  me  in  every 
direction.  In  fact,  we  came  near  being  discovered 
by  several  squads  during  the  night.  We  hastened 
on  into  St.  Francois  county;  Tom  Haile  and  myself 
being  in  front,  we  took  Farmington  without  firing  a 
gun  long  before  my  other  men  came  up.  As  we 
rode  in  the  streets  were  full  of  people,  but  we  only 
had  time  to  take  a  second  look  when  the  place 
seemed  to  be  entirely  deserted.  Not  a  man,  woman 
or  child  could  be  found,  at  which  Tom  laughed 
heartily,  and  remarked  that  he  thought  cellar  rent 
ought  to  be  very  high  in  that  place.  When  my 
other  men  came  up  Tom  told  them  that  we  had 
found  a  beautiful  town  not  claimed  by  anybody, 
"just  laying  around  loose,"  and  that  he  was  very 
sorry  we  could  not  take  it  along  with  us  until  we 
found  an  owner.  We  did  not  haunt  the  town  very 
long  with  our  unholy  presence,  but  after  going  into 
a  grocery,  where  we  had  to  help  ourselves,  we  took 
a  hearty  drink  of  some  good  old  liquor  that  had 
been  left  by  the  generation  that  once  lived  there  ; 
then  mounting  our  horses  we  left  the  lonesome 


SAMUEL  S.  HILDEBRAND.  175 

place.  Tom  remarked  that  as  we  had  no  wounded 
man  to  leave  there  to  garrison  the  town  we  had  bet 
ter  leave  for  the  "settlements."  We  went  on  to 
Big  river  to  look  after  our  old  enemies ;  but  their 
consciousness  of  having  committed  such  a  cata 
logue  of  crimes  against  me  made  them  the  hardest 
men  in  the  world  to  find. 

In  our  business  of  killing  enemies,  we  met  with 
good  success  everywhere  but  on  Big  river.  Up  to 
the  time  of  the  present  writing,  a  majority  of  those 
miscreants,  with  hands  dripping  with  the  blood  of 
my  brothers,  are  yet  permitted  to  live.  For  several 
days  and  nights  we  watched  around  the  houses  of 
my  old  enemies,  but  to  no  purpose ;  it  was  impossi 
ble  to  find  them.  One  of  my  men  made  his  way 
around  through  the  neighborhood  to  ascertain  their 
whereabouts,  and  reported  that  they  were  all  from 
home  except  Franklin  Murphy  ;  but  Tom  Haile  was 
determined  that  I  should  not  kill  him.  He  exacted 
a  promise  from  me  long  ago  that  I  never  would  mo 
lest  him  or  any  of  his  property.  Haile  was  a  man 
who  wielded  an  influence  over  every  one  with  whom 
he  came  in  contact.  He  was  ever  in  a  perfect  good 
humor;  the  clouds  of  adversity  never  seemed  to 
throw  a  shadow  on  his  brow ;  his  heart  was  all  sun 
shine,  and  his  feet  ever  trod  in  the  vales  of  mirth 
and  gladness. 

I  plainly  saw  that  so  far  as  killing  my  old  enemies 
was  concerned  my  present  trip  was  a  failure.  Dur 
ing  all  the  incidents  of  my  previous  trips  to  Mis 
souri,  I  never  ior  once  lost  sight  of  that  one  leading 


176  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

object  of  my  mind.  The  killing  of  Federals,  in  which 
I  had  taken  such  an  active  part,  only  afforded  me 
pleasure  by  the  reflection  that  they  were  a  part  and 
parcel  of  the  same  stripe,  and  in  sympathy  with  the 
Big  river  vigilance  mob. 

I  was  now  much  in  need  of  a  good  horse,  and  af 
ter  talking  the  matter  over  with  my  men,  Tom  Haile 
and  myself  concluded  to  demand  a  good  horse, 
bridle  and  saddle,  from  G.  W.  Murphy,  a  man  whose 
nature  it  was  to  be  quiet  and  inoffensive,  and  who 
had  attended  strictly  to  his  own  business  during  all 
the  struggle. 

He  was  abundantly  able  to  assist  us  in  the  matter, 
and  we  considered  that  he  ought  to  contribute  that 
much  toward  the  Southern  cause.  We  were  raised 
close  together  from  boyhood,  and  I  had  nothin  g 
against  him ;  but  as  he  was  well  able  to  spare  me  a 
horse,  I  made  the  demand.  He  complied  with  the 
request  after  emerging  (as  I  believe)  from  a  barrel 
of  feathers.  His  novel  appearance  caus  ed  Tom 
Haile,  who  was  always  fond  of  a  joke,  to  tell  him 
that  he  must  not  let  Jim  Craig  see  him  in  that  con 
dition,  or  he  might  capture  him  for  a  spotted  mule, 
which  Murphy,  in  his  good  humored  way,  passed  off 
very  well.  We  also  took  a  horse  from  Orville  Mc- 
Ilvaine,  who  lived  on  the  place  known  as  the  Baker 
farm.  I  had  some  anxiety  to  see  him  in  order  to 
make  him  break  his  well-known  rule  of  never  part 
ing  with  a  greenback  after  it  got  into  his  safe ;  but 
his  retiring  nature  prompted  him  to  conceal  himself 
in  the  garret  until  we  departed.  We  now  rejoined 


SAMUEL   S.  HILDEBRAND.  177 

the  other  boys  and  started  back  by  the  way  of 
Mingo  Swamp.  Before  we  reached  that  place  we 
were  warned  by  our  friends  that  the  Federals  were 
thick  in  that  locality.  About  midnight  we  arrived 
at  the  house  of  William  Coots  (well-known  as  old 
Bill  Coots,)  who  had  heretofore  invariably  repre 
sented  himself  as  a  Rebel  of  unusual  bitterness.  In 
answer  to  our  inquiries,  he  told  us  that  there  were 
no  Federals  in  the  neighborhood,  neither  had  there 
been  any  for  more  than  a  month.  He  also  told  us 
that  the  men  we  wished  to  find  were  then  at  home. 
I  felt  very  much  gratified  on  hearing  statements  so 
favorable  to  the  success  of  our  enterprise,  and  re 
quested  him  to  supply  us  with  a  few  days'  rations 
and  provender  for  our  horses,  while  we  camped  at  a 
certain  point  not  more  than  half  a  mile  distant. 

He  readily  consented,  and  gave  us  a  very  press 
ing  invitation  to  come  and  take  breakfast  with  him 
about  sun  up.  To  this  we  agreed,  and  at  the  time 
designated,  we  all  left  our  camp  and  repaired  to  the 
house  of  our  generous  host,  who  received  us  with  a 
great  deal  of  what  might  be  termed  "Arkansas 
courtesy."  It  may  be  readily  supposed  that  the 
scanty  fattening  process  we  had  gone  through  while 
on  the  St.  Francis  bluff  had  produced  a  streak  of 
lean  running  the  whole  length  of  our  mortal  bodies ; 
and  that  the  odor  from  the  kitchen,  of  coffee,  ham 
and  eggs,  with  other  ingredients  intermixed  with 
spices,  made  us  for  a  time  forget  all  other  things  on 
these  mundane  shores.  When  breakfast  was  an 
nounced  and  we  were  about  to  seat  ourselves  at  the 


178  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

table,  old  Coots  remarked  :  "  Here,  gentlemen,  you 
can  lay  your  arms  on  the  bed,"  but  it  was  not  our 
custom  to  take  off  our  arms  at  any  time,  so  we 
seated  ourselves  at  the  table  with  them  on.  We 
were  perhaps  about  half  done  eating  when  a  ragged 
looking  Federal  stepped  up  to  the  door,  and  in  an 
exulting  tone  said:  "Well,  Coots!  you  got  them, 
did  you  ?"  and  bawled  out  "  surrender,"  at  which  I 
sprang  from  the  table,  drew  my  revolver  and  shot 
Coots,  seized  my  gun  which  I  had  left  near  the  door, 
and  cleared  the  door  by  about  fifteen  feet;  I  shot  a 
Federal  with  my  revolver  which  I  still  held  in  my 
right  hand,  and  in  a  few  bounds  gained  the  woods 
unhurt,  save  a  slight  wound  on  the  back  of  my  head. 
My  men  attempted  to  follow  without  their  guns, 
two  of  them  were  killed  in  their  attempt  to  escape, 
while  the  remaining  one  (Tom  Haile,)  soon  got  with 
me,  and  we  made  our  way  to  our  horses.  Fortunate 
ly  the  Federals  had  not  found  them.  We  tarried 
awhile  lor  our  comrades,  but  as  they  did  not  come 
up  we  were  fearful  that  they  were  slain.  Mounting 
our  horses  and  leading  theirs,  we  made  our  way  to 
a  canebrake  about  a  mile  off,  and  sent  a  citizen 
back  to  ascertain  the  real  state  of  affairs.  After 
taking  an  old  bridle  in  his  hand,  he  made  his  way 
over,  inquiring  of  each  person  he  met  for  a  grey 
mare  and  a  black  colt. 

On  passing  the  house  of  old  Bill  Coots  he  was 
halted,  at  which  he  did  not  seem  to  be  the  least 
alarmed,  but  expressed  the  utmost  surprise  when 
the  whole  tragedy  was  related  to  him.  The  worst 


SAMUEL   S.   HILDEBRANB,  l&l 

part  of  the  whole  affair  was  that  two  of  my  men 
were  killed  and  were  lying  at  the  time  in  front  of 
the  house.  On  receiving  this  news  we  started  home 
to  get  a  force  sufficient  to  clean  out  the  Federals, 
but  on  arriving  in  Green  county,  Arkansas,  nearly 
all  of  our  men  were  out  on  scouting  excursions, 
principally  toward  the  West. 


18'2  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Took  ten  men. —  Went  to  Mingo  Swamp. —  Went  to  Castor  Creek. — 
Medicine  traffic. — Attacked  two  companies  of  Federals  under 
Capt.  Cawhorn  and  Capt.  Rhode? — Fought  them  seven  nights. — 
Dick  Cowan. —  Went  with  Capt.  Reed's  men. — Attacked  Capt. 
Leeper's  Company. — Killed  fourteen  and  wounded  eight. — Cap 
tured  forty-four  guns,  sixty  pistols ,  forty  horses  and  four  hun 
dred  dollars. 

On  the  15th  day  of  December,  1863,  I  started 
back  to  Mingo  Swamp  with  ten  men,  and  met  with 
no  obstacles  on  our  route  after  swimming  the  St. 
Francis  river.  When  we  got  into  the  neighborhood 
of  the  unfortunate  tragedy  of  our  previous  trip,  we 
ascertained  from  reliable  sources  that  the  Federals 
left  ior  Bloomfield  on  the  day  following  th^  skirmish 
at  old  Bill  Coots',  and  that  the  men  we  had  been 
looking  after  so  long  had  gone  into  the  regular 

army. 

We  visited  the  house  of  our  newly  made  widow, 
Mrs.  Coots,  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  the  graves  of 
my  two  brave  boys.  She  confessed  that  Ooots  had 
layed  plans  for  my  capture ;  that  the  Federals  were 
camped  only  one  mile  off  at  the  time,  and  that  after 
I  had  consented  to  come  to  his  house  for  breakfast, 
he  went  to  the  Federal  camp  and  notified  them  of 
the  fact,  and  made  arrangements  to  take  me  in. 
Finding  no  one  in  that  vicinity  to  fight,  we  made 


SAMUEL   S.  HILDEBRAND.  183 

our  way  over  onto  Castor  creek  to  a  well  known 
friend,  who  had,  since  the  beginning  of  the  war, 
acted  as  an  agent  for  us  in  receiving  and  forwarding 
supplies  and  medicines.  Hearing  of  no  Federals  in 
that  portion  of  the  country,  and  there  being  no  per 
sons  in  that  quarter  against  whom  we  had  enmity 
sufficient  to  induce  us  to  invest  any  of  our  capital 
in  bark  or  grape  vines,  we  obtained  the  medicine 
sent  to  that  place  from  Farmington,  St.  Francois 
county,  Missouri,  and  started  back  for  Mingo  Swamp. 
On  our  way  the  monotony  of  our  journey  was  sud 
denly  relieved  by  seeing  a  Federal  coming  toward 
us,  apparently  riding  very  cautiously.  We  only  got 
a  glimpse  of  him  as  the  road  took  him  down  into  a 
small  ravine  out  of  our  sight.  We  were  very  cer 
tain  that  he  had  not  discovered  us,  so  we  got  out  of 
the  road  until  he  came  up ;  when  we  halted  him  he 
seemed  very  much  frightened,  but  surrendered 
quietly. 

fle  told  us  that  he  had  been  to  Cairo,  Illinois,  to 
see  his  family,  and  was  on  his  way  back  to  his  com 
mand  at  Fredericktown.  Upon  the  whole  he  gave 
such  a  good  account  of  himself  that  we  only  dis 
armed  him  and  took  his  greenbacks,  which,  how 
ever,  only  amounted  to  twelve  dollars. 

On  the  following  night  we  heard  of  three  more 
Rebel  boys  in  the  country  and  sent  for  them.  After 
they  agreed  to  try  a  trip  with  us,  we  left  the  drugs 
with  a  friend  and  went  back  onto  Castor  creek  to 
watch  for  the  Federals  who  were  in  the  habit  of 
passing  tiiere  on  their  road  between  Fredericktown 


184  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

and  Cape  Girardeau.  We  had  been  there  but  one 
night  and  day  when  we  heard  of  two  companies  of 
Federals  nearby  commanded  by  Captains  Cawhorn 
and  Khoder.  As  soon  as  it  was  dark  we  proceeded 
to  spy  out  their  exact  locality  and  take  a  look  at 
the  surroundings.  We  found  from  their  position  and 
numbers  that  it  would  be  entirely  unsafe  to  charge 
through  their  camp  as  was  our  custom,  and  con 
cluded  to  bushwhack  them.  During  the  night  we 
killed  twelve  and  wounded  several  more,  as  we  were 
informed  afterwards.  When  day  again  made  its  ap 
pearance  we  went  about  two  miles  into  a  dense 
thicket  with  our  horses.  We  put  out  spies  watching 
and  waiting  impatiently  for  them  to  move.  Instead 
of  marching,  however,  they  were  charging  around 
the  most  public  places  in  the  vicinity,  threatening 
Southern  sympathizers  with  annihilation,  but  we 
got  no  chance  to  bushwhack  them. 

During  the  day  a  squad  of  them  went  to  the  resi 
dence  of  Dick  Cowan,  one  of  my  men,  burned  his 
house  and  other  buildings,  and  attempted  an  out 
rage  on  one  of  his  sisters  who  happened  to  be  there. 
For  several  days  the  people  in  the  neighborhood 
were  compelled  to  suffer  the  most  glaring  insults 
and  wrongs.  Each  night  we  renewed  the  attack, 
and  killed  one  occasionally  at  all  hours  of  the  night. 
They  stood  our  mode  of  warfare  six  days  and  nights, 
but  early  on ,  the  morning  of  the  seventh  day  they 
started  on  their  way  to  Cape  Girardeau.  During 
their  march  we  stationed  ourselves  at  convenient 
places,  and  as  they  came  along  poured  a  deadly  fire 


SAMUEL   S.   HILDEBRAND.  185 

into  their  ranks  and  then  retreated  into  the  woods. 
We  thought  by  this  means  to  induce  them  to  follow 
us,  but  it  only  seemed  to  hurry  up  their  march. 
This  we  repeated  three  times  before  they  reached 
Cape  Girardeau. 

By  this  time  we  were  anxious  to  see  our  families 
and  started  back  to  Arkansas.  Taking  our  drugs 
that  had  been  left  with  a  friend,  we  soon  met  twenty- 
eight  of  Oapt.  Reed's  men  who  insisted  on  our  tak 
ing  a  trip  with  them  to  Wayne  county,  and  perhaps 
as  far  north  as  Iron  county.  To  this  I  consented, 
detailing  two  of  my  men  to  take  the  drugs  to  Ar 
kansas,  we  started  on  our  way,  marching  in  day  time. 
We  passed  about  twenty  miles  south  of  Bloomfield 
and  on  to  Greenville,  in  Wayne  county,  arriving 
there  about  sunset,  but  did  not  find  any  Federal 
troops  in  the  place  to  protect  its  loyalty.  Soon  after 
arriving  in  town  we  heard  of  a  company  of  Federals 
on  Lost  creek  under  Capt.  Leeper,  and  taking  our 
informant  for  a  guide  we  marched  at  once  to  give 
them  a  fight. 

Reaching  there  about  sunrise  the  next  morning 
we  charged  their  camp,  running  their  pickets  in  at 
full  speed,  fought  them  only  a  few  minutes,  when 
those  who  had  not  got  into  the  brush  surrendered. 
In  the  fight  we  lost  four  men  killed  and  six  wounded, 
the  latter,  however,  all  recovered.  Of  the  enemy 
we  killed  fifteen,  wounded  eight,  and  took  ten  pris 
oners  beside  the  wounded.  Our  booty  consisted  of 
forty -four  guns,  sixty  pistols,  forty  horses,  four  him- 


186  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

dred  dollars  in  greenbacks,  and  other  articles  oi 
value  to  us  and  to  our  families. 

The  subject  of  what  disposition  we  would  make  of 
the  prisoners  came  up,  and  in  cases  of  the  kind  we 
were  purely  democratic,  so  we  took  the  vote  whether 
we  would  kill  them  or  set  them  loose. 

In  consideration  of  the  wrongs  my  family  had  re 
ceived  at  their  hands,  and  of  their  well-known 
cruelty,  I  made  a  speech  in  favor  of  killing  them 
and  voted  accordingly. 

When  the  whole  vote  was  counted  I  found  myself 
in  the  minority  by  just  two  votes;  but  true  to  my 
word  I  released  them,  unarmed  and  on  foot. 

In  the  evening  before  we  had  attacked  them  they 
had  killed  an  old  man  by  the  name  of  Tom  McKee 
-and  burned  his  house  with  other  buildings.  This 
fresh  outrage  was  not  known  to  us  until  they  were 
gone,  or  we  undoubtedly  would  have  shot  them. 
On  being  informed  of  this  fact,  however,  we  sent  a 
scout  after  them,  but  they  had  left  the  main  road 
and  secreted  themselves  in  the  thick  woods.  The 
wounded,  however,  were  at  our  disposal,  but  we  did 
not,  during  the  whole  war  get  mean  enough  to  imi 
tate  our  enemies  by  killing  wounded  prisoners,  but 
placed  them  at  the  house  of  a  widow  woman  who 
promised  to  take  care  of  them  until  the  Federals  at 
Pilot  Knob  could  have  them  removed. 

We  procured  a  wagon  and  loaded  it  with  our  booty ; 
took  our  six  wounded  men  and  started  back  to  Green 
county,  Arkansas,  where  we  arrived  without  any 
difficulty,  and  found  all  things  right  at  headquarters. 


3  A  MU  EL    S.    HILDEBBAND.  187 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Took  fifteen  men.  Captured  three  Federals.  Hung  one.  Captured 
a  squad  of  Federals.  Reception  of  "Uncle  Bill"  Hung  all  the 
prisoners.  Captured  jive  'more,  and  hung  one. 

After  spending  the  winter  very  agreeably,  on  the 
10th  day  of  March,  1364, 1  concluded  to  make  a  raid 
to  the  vicinity  of  Jackson,  Cape  Girardeau  county^ 
Missouri,  with  fifteen  men,  several  of  whom  were 
from  that  county,  and  knew  the  people  and  country 
well. 

It  was  to  remunerate  these  men  for  the  invaluable 
services  they  had  rendered  me  on  several  of  my 
trips  that  I  consented  to  go  with  them. 

We  passed  through  Butler  county  into  Stoddard, 
leaving  Bloomfield  to  the  south  a  few  miles,  crossed 
the  southeast  corner  of  Bollinger  and  into  Cape 
Girardeau. 

Having  traveled  very  slowly,  and  altogether  in 
the  night,  we  had  created  no  disturbance  on  our 
way,  nor  interfered  with  any  one,  for  it  was  our 
custom  to  make  no  demonstrations  until  we  were 
ready  to  return. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  night  we  arrived  in  the 
vicinity  of  Jackson,  selected  a  good  place  and 
camped  for  the  day,  during  which  time  some  of  the 
boys  visited  their  friends.  One  of  my  men  who  was 
an  entire  stranger  in  that  part  of  the  country,  went 


188  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

into  the  town  to  get  whisky,  and  to  see  what  was 
going  on. 

On  returning  late  in  the  evening  he  told  me  that 
there  were  three  Federals  in  town  who  seemed  to  be 
well  acquainted  with  the  people,  and  that  they  were 
behaving  very  well.  He  wanted  to  take  some  of 
the  boys  and  go  back  after  them,  to  which  I  con 
sented.  They  started  off  in  eager  haste,  but  soon 
returned  with  the  three  prisoners,  having  met 
them  in  the  road  some  distance  from  town.  Not 
knowing  them  I  retained  them  as  prisoners  un 
til  the  boys  came  in  who  knew  them.  Being 
governed  by  their  statements,  I  released  two  of  the 
Federals  and  kept  the  other  as  a  prisoner,  and  took 
him  with  us  when  we  started  that  night  for  White 
Water,  but  we  did  not  take  him  far  before  we  tied 
him  to  a  limb. 

On  White  Water  we  remained  inactive  several 
days,  receiving  the  kindest  treatment  from  our 
Southern  friends,  which  enabled  some  of  my  men  to 
visit  their  friends  and  relatives. 

About  sunset  one  evening  a  citizen  came  to  us 
and  stated  that  about  an  hour  before  nine  Federals 
had  passed  the  road,  and  the  probabilities  were  that 
they  would  stop  for  the  night  at  the  first  house. 

The  night  was  now  growing  very  dark,  and  we 
were  soon  under  full  pursuit  of  them.  On  nearing 
the  house,  however,  we  rode  very  slowly,  and  tied 
our  horses  in  the  thicket  at  some  distance,  and  ap 
proached  the  premises  very  cautiously.  It  was  a 
double  hewed  log  house,  with  an  open  hall  between 


SAMUEL   S.   HILBEBRAND.  189 

them,  with  a  small  cooking  apartment  forming  an 
ell  to  the  main  building,  but  separated  from  it  by  a 
narrow  hall  also. 

After  forming  my  men  in  a  line  around  the  house 
I  crept  to  the  windows  and  peeped  into  both  rooms, 
only  one  of  which,  however,  was  lighted,  and  in  it  I 
could  see  no  one  except  a  very  old  lady,  who  might 
have  been  a  grandmother,  and  some  little  children 
who  were  grouped  around  the  old  lady,  and  who 
seemed  to  be  holding  a  very  earnest  conversation 
with  her  in  a  very  low  tone.  I  went  around  to  the 
kitchen  window,  and  upon  looking  in  to  my  great 
joy  I  saw  the  Federals  eating  their  supper. 

The  position  I  occupied  was  a  very  easy  one,  and 
their  conversation  was  so  peculiarly  interesting  that 
I  could  not  refrain  from  listening.  They  were  using 
very  vulgar  and  indecent  language  to  the  lady» 
who,  with  all  the  kindness  and  amiability  charac 
teristic  of  her  sex,  was  waiting  upon  the  ruffians, 
while  the  old  gentleman  was  seated  on  a  box  in  a 
corner  of  the  room  exposed  to  the  most  outrageous 
insults,  accompanied  with  threats  of  the  most 
heineous  character;  but  in  silent  fear  the  old  man 
bore  their  criminal  epithets  and  bitter  curses  with- 
our  returning  a  word. 

By  this  time  I  had  heard  all  that  my  weak  hu 
manity  could  bear.  I  retreated  from  my  position, 
passed  around  the  circle,  and  collected  my  men  at 
the  entrance  to  the  kitchen  into  the  open  hall,  this 
being  their  only  place  of  egress,  and  placed  an 
equal  number  of  my  men  on  each  side.  I  now 


190  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

stepped  into  the  door  and  demanded  a  surrender, 
at  which  my  men  became  impatient  and  rushed  for 
the  door,  but  I  prevented  them  from  entering.  Each 
of  the  Federals  pushed  back  his  chair,  at  which  I 
told  them  that  I  would  shoot  any  man  who  should 
attempt  to  arise  from  the  table  with  his  arms,  admit 
ting  my  men  at  the  same  time.  At  this  the  Fede 
rals  placed  their  revolvers  on  the  table  and  retired 
according  to  my  command  to  the  fartherest  end  of 
the  room  and  formed  in  a  line. 

By  this  time  our  little  disturbance  had  aroused 
the  old  grandmother  and  the  little  children  in  the 
other  house,  who  came  to  the  scene,  the  children 
screaming  in  a  terrible  manner,  and  clinging  to  the 
old  lady's  dress  for  protection.  On  reaching  the 
kitchen,  however,  the  scene  was  quite  different  from 
what  they  had  expected.  They  halted  a  moment  at 
the  door  in  dreadful  suspense,  then  suddenly  the 
oldest  girl,  who  was  about  eight  years  of  age,  sprang 
suddenly  into  the  room,  exclaiming  "Well,  grandma  ! 
if  here  ain't  Uncle  Bill ! "  then  seizing  one  of  my 
men  by  the  hand  she  sobbed  aloud,  w'Oh  Uncle  Bill! 
don't  let  the  soldiers  kill  pa  ! "  at  which  the  whole 
household  greeted  "  Uncle  Bill."  The  old  gentle 
man  last  of  all  approached  my  man  who  had  been 
recognized  and  greeted  with  so  many  smiles  and 
such  marked  distinction,  giving  his  hand  slowly 
while  the  tears  trickled  down  his  weather-beaten 
cheek,  and  only  said:  "Bill,  I'm  glad  to  see  you," 
my  comrade  receiving  his  hand  and  retaining  it  for 
perhaps  half  a  minute,  said  nothing,  but  turned  and 


SAMUEL   S.  HILDEBRAND.  191 

introduced  me  as  Major  Hildebrand  to  his  relative, 
and  to  the  household.  As  I  stepped  forward  to  re 
ceive  the  salutation  of  the  old  gentleman  of  whom 
I  had  heard  so  much,  and  knew  so  little,  I  heard  one 
of  the  prisoners  remark, i(  a  hell  of  a  Major,"  and 
upon  casting  my  eyes  around  I  found  them  ready  to 
burst  into  a  derisive  laughter,  which  I  must  con s 'ess 
took  me  a  little  back. 

At  this  I  ordered  one  of  the  rooms  forming  the 
main  building  lighted,  and  stationing  my  men  prop- 
erly,  I  marched  my  prisoners  out  of  the  kitchen 
through  the  little  hall  into  the  room  of  the  main 
building,  put  a  guard  over  them  and  pickets  around 
the  house,  I  returned  to  the  kitchen  with  my  man 
now  known  as  "  Uncle  Bill,"  to  have  a  talk  with  the 
old  gentleman  while  his  wife  was  hastily  preparing 
a  nice  little  supper  for  us  all.  The  old  man  again 
took  me  by  the  hand,  thanking  me  for  my  coinci 
dental  visit,  stated  that  the  Federals  had  made 
several  trips  into  the  neighborhood  after  him,  but 
having  been  told  of  their  threats,  he  had  always 
heretofore  succeeded  in  eluding  their  search.  He 
also  stated  that  the  only  charge  they  had  against 
him  was  for  feeding  bushwhackers,  and  that  when 
the  soldiers  came  up  to  his  house  on  the  present  oc 
casion,  just  after  dark,  they  were  in  the  hall  before 
he  saw  them,  and  he  had  no  possible  way  of  escape 
except  through  them. 

Considering  his  escape  so  very  uncertain,  he  re 
solved  to  submit  to  his  fate,  and  that  when  we  made 
our  timely  appearance  he  was  a  prisoner,  sentenced 


192  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

to  be  executed  as  soon  as  they  were  done  supper. 
He  wound  up  his  statement  by  saying :  "Well,  Major 
Hildebrand,  I  must  confess  I  am  very  agreeably  dis 
appointed  in  your  general  appearance  ;  I  have  long 
been  anxious  to  see  you,  and  am  surprised  that  you 
never  called  on  me  before,  but  if  you  had  done  so 
I  should  never  have  taken  you  for  Sam  Hildebrand. 
I  was  led  to  believe,  by  hearing  of  your  exploits, 
that  you  certainly  was  a  rough  looking  customer, 
a  perfect  "raw-head  and  bloody-bones  ;"  and  that 
Belzebub  himself  would  have  been  daunted  by  your 
ferocious  appearance." 

Supper  being  announced  eight  men  were  left  to 
guard  the  prisoners  while  the  others  were  eating, 
until  all  had  partaken  of  the  sumptuous  repast. 
We  were  now  ready  for  business,  we  marched  our 
prisoners  out  to  the  fence  in  front  of  the  house,  tied 
their  hands  securely  behind  them,  placed  them  on 
their  own  horses  and  tied  their  feet  together  under 
neath.  Then  mounting  we  started  south,  leading 
the  horses  on  which  the  prisoners  rode.  Having 
traveled  very  fast  we  reached  a  part  of  the  country 
as  day  began  to  approach  in  which  we  felt  perfect 
ly  safe. 

Leaving  the  road  we  went  into  a  deep  ravine 
about  fifteen  miles  northeast  from  Bloomfield, 
covered  with  thick  undergrowth  and  sheltered  by 
heavy  timber.  Here  we  hung  our  prisoners.  They 
were  really  brave  fellows,  and  submitted  to  their 
fate  without  a  murmur,  and  during  our  march  that 
night  they  showed  not  the  least  sign  of  being  con- 


SAMUEL   S.   IIILDEBRAND.  193 

quered,  but  said  they  were  McNeal's  men,  an/l  that 
when  they  went  into  the  army  it  was  for  the  pur 
pose  of  killing  Rebels,  and  that  some  of  the  worst 
Rebels  they  had  killed  were  men  who  were  staying 
at  home,  and  the  most  of  them  professing  to  be 
"loyal." 

After  disposing  of  our  prisoners,  we  secreted  our 
horses  in  a  dense  thicket,  and  ten  of  us  took  our 
stations  on  a  road  leading  from  Benton,  Scott  coun 
ty,  Missouri,  to  watch  for  Federals.  We  remained 
here  nearly  all  day  without  seeing  any,  and  were 
thinking  about  giving  it  up  as  a  bad  job  and  return 
ing  to  our  camps ;  but  when  the  sun  was  about  an 
hour  high,  in  the  evening,  we  discovered  five  Fede 
rals  wending  their  way  slowly  toward  Bloomfield. 

My  men  were  divided  into  two  parties,  and  were 
stationed  about  one  hundred  yards  apart.  We  al 
lowed  them  to  get  nearly  opposite  the  second  squad 
of  which  I  was  one,  then  we  stepped  suddenly  into 
the  road  before  them  and  demanded  a  surrender,  to 
which  they  submitted,  but  seemed  very  much 
alarmed.  On  calling  up  my  men  who  had  been 
stationed  farther  down  the  road,  and  who  stood  at 
this  time  behind  the  prisoners.  They  seemed  some 
what  relieved  as  they  recognized  one  of  them  as 
being  an  old  acquaintance,  who  extended  his  hand 
cordially  to  all  of  them  but  one,  remarking  to  him 
that  he  would  not  shake  hands  with  him  "until  he 
met  him  in  h — 11." 

They  now  dismounted  and  surrendered  up  their 
arms  and  their  horses.    I  then  marched  them  out  of 
9 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

the  road  to  a  safe  distance  into  the  woods  and  in 
quired  of  my  man  who  had  recognized  them,  con 
cerning  their  character.  He  reported  that  all  of 
them  were  his  acquaintances  of  long  standing;  that 
four  of  them  were  very  clever  fellows,  these  I  re 
leased  immediately;  but  the  fifth  one  we  hung  after 
investigating  his  case. 

When  night  came  we   mounted  our  horses,  and 
taking  our  booty  with  us,  started  back  to  Arkansas. 


SAMUEL   S.   HILDEBRASD.  195 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

Put  in  a  crop. — Started  to  Missouri  with  nine  men. — Killed  a  sold 
ier  near  Dallas. —  Went  to  St.  Francois  county. —  Watched  for 
Walls  and  Baker. —  Watched  near  Big  River  Mills  for  McGahan 
— Came  near  shooting  Mr.  Sharp. — Robbed  Surges,  Hughes  and 
Kelley  of  their  horses. — Robbed  Abrighfs  store. — Captured  some 
Federals  on  White  Water. 

As  we  all  belonged  to  the  "Independent  Bush 
whacking  Department  of  the  Confederate  States  of 
America,"  and  were  entirely  dependent  on  our  own 
exertions  for  a  livelihood,  it  was  necessary  now  that 
we  should  put  in  our  crops. 

For  nearly  two  months  Crowley's  Ridge  on  which 
we  lived,  and  the  adjacent  country,  looked  as  if  it 
contained  an  industrious  little  community  of  "honest 
farmers." 

The  axe  was  heard  in  every  direction ;  the  smoke 
from  burning  brush  was  curling  up  from  a  thousand 
fires,  and  at  night  the  little  boys  and  girls  were 
making  bright  fires  until  midnight,  under  the  im 
pression  hinted  at  by  their  fathers  that  it  was  "such 
fun."  All  da}7  long  the  women  were  out  in  full 
force  with  their  hoes  and  their  rakes,  unmindful  of 
the  music  of  crying  babies  heard  at  nearly  every 
cabin.  Mothers  are  nearly  always  deaf  while  plant 
ing  out  onions;  it  is  a  little  season  of  orphanage 
through  which  most  children  in  the  country  have  to 


196  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

pass  once  a  year.  We  have  all  passed  through  that 
bitter  day  with  red  eyes,  and  it  is  no  wonder  that  the 
sight  of  an  onion  in  after  life  is  so  apt  to  bring  tears 
in  our  eyes. 

I  put  in  a  good  crop  of  corn,  and  my  wife  made  an 
excellent  garden  with  no  help  but  the  children.  I 
am  very  much  tempted  to  brag  a  little  on  my  excel 
lent  wife,  but  if  I  were  to  assert  that  I  had  the  best 
wife  in  the  world,  each  one  of  my  male  readers  who 
are  married  would  want  me  to  except  his  own  ;  this 
would  render  the  exceptions  so  numerous  that  my 
wife  would  come  in  nearly  last,  so  I  will  say  nothing 
about  it,  and  keep  my  own  opinion  to  myself. 

After  plowing  my  crop  over  once  I  made  prepara 
tion  for  another  trip  to  Missouri,  but  we  had  all  got 
into  such  a  good  humor  while  busily  engaged  in 
farming,  that  we  were  nearly  two  days  recounting 
our  grievances  before  we  were  mad  enough  to  think 
of  snatching  our  enemies  into  eternity. 

Taking  nine  men,  one  of  whom  had  served  under 
Quantrel,  we  started  on  the  25th  day  of  May,  1864, 
for  another  raid  into  Missouri,  Crossing  the  St. 
Francis  river  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Stoddard 
county,  we  went  into  Scott  county  and  watched 
three  days  and  nights  to  catch  some  men  we  were 
after,  but  failing  in  this  we  went  in  the  direction  of 
Dallas,  the  county  seat  of  Bollinger. 

My  men  wanted  to  return,  as  nothing  of  an  excit 
ing  interest  had  transpired  so  far ;  but  at  my  earnest 
solicitation  they  agreed  to  go  with  me  one  more 
day.  The  next  morning  we  were  traveling  in  day 


SAMUEL   S.   HILDEBRANB.  197 

time,  and  had  not  proceeded  more  than  four  or  five 
miles  when  we  discovered  a  party  of  Federals, 
seven  in  number,  who  had  discovered  us  and  were 
under  full  speed  toward  the  town  of  Dallas,  which 
was  at  that  time  garrisoned  by  about  one  hundred 
Dutch  soldiers.  We  dashed  on  after  them ;  the  race 
was  a  very  exciting  one.  When  we  had  gone  about 
six  miles  we  began  to  gain  on  them,  and  when  we 
got  within  a  mile  of  the  garrison  one  of  their  horses 
fell,  giving  the  rider  a  thump  on  the  ground  that 
knocked  him  senseless  until  we  were  upon  him. 
We  disarmed  him,  and  as  his  horse  had  not  left,  we 
made  him  mount  and  go  with  us  about  two  miles  in 
the  woods. 

The  Dutchman  seemed  very  much  alarmed,  and 
gave  us  enough  broken  English  for  a  good  sized 
volume;  but  as  soon  as  we  arrived  in  a  thick  tim 
bered  hollow  between  the  hills,  we  quietly  sent  his 
spirit  back  to  the  Khine  where  it  never  should  have 
left.  In  a  few  hours  we  called  at  the  house  of  a 
friend,  fed  our  horses  and  got  some  refreshments  for 
ourselves. 

To  the  Flat  Woods,  in  St.  Francois  county,  we 
then  made  our  way,  and  remained  there  about 
twenty-four  hours,  after  which  we  went  to  the  ex 
treme  northern  part  of  the  county,  and  concealed 
ourselves  among  the  Pike  Run  hills.  Those  hills 
are  perhaps  the  most  rugged  part  of  the  whole  State, 
and  are  covered  with  a  dense  thicket  of  under 
brush,  making  it  a  wild,  uninhabited  wilderness. 
These  hilk  not  being  far  from  Bi£  river,  they  afforded 


8  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

me  a  secure  place  for  my  temporary  headquarters 
while  searching  around  for  my  enemies. 

Early  in  the  morning  I  engaged  the  services  of  a 
well  known  friend,  who  feigned  business  in  several 
parts  of  the  neighborhood,  who  returned  at  night 
and  reported  that  only  two  of  my  persecutors  were 
at  home,  whose  name  were  James  Walls  and  John 
Baker. 

^n  the  following  morning  when  the  light  of  day 
again  pierced  through  the  gloom  of  our  retreat  I 
went  and  stationed  myself  near  the  house  where 
they  both  resided. 

I  did  not  watch  long  before  Walls  came  out  onto 
the  porch.  But  I  had  failed  to  get  a  position  suffi 
ciently  near  for  me  to  kill  him  at  the  house;  I  was 
watching  for  them  to  come  to  the  wood  pile,  which 
would  only  have  been  about  one  hundred  yards.  I 
could  always  hit  a  spot  as  large  as  a  man's  hand  at 
that  distance  with  old  "Kill-devil." 

About  ten  o'clock  two  men  rode  up  to  the  house, 
alighted  and  went  in ;  they  came  out  again  in  half 
an  hour  followed  by  both  Walls  and  Baker,  who 
started  of  in  an  opposite  direction  from  where  I  lay. 
I  then  changed  my  position  to  the  opposite  side  of 
the  house,  thinking  they  probably  would  return 
soon. 

I  remained  quietly  until  the  sun  had  dipped  be 
hind  the  western  hills,  then  I  returned  to  camp 
where  I  again  found  my  friend  who  had  acted  as  a 
spy  for  me.  He  told  me  that  he  had  seen  Baker  and 
Walls  going  in  the  direction  of  Da  Soto  with  two 


S.  IIILDEBRA&D. 

other  men.  one  of  whom  stated  to  him  that  "Sain 
Hildebrand  was  thought  to  be  in  the  country,  from 
the  fact  that  strange  and  very  rough  looking  rneri 
had  been  seen  at  several  public  places,  and  that 
they  were  thought  to  be  fiildebrand's  men." 

The  reader  will  here  understand  that  these  un 
warrantable  scares  were  very  irequentin  this  vicin 
ity;  one  poor  ragged  stranger  making  his  appear 
ance  in  the  neighborhood  was  sufficient  at  any  time 
to  raise  the  cry  of  "Hildebrand,"  at  which  all  who 
had  wronged  me  would  squat  like  young  quails. 

Knowing  that  any  further  efforts  to  kill  either 
Walls  or  Baker  would  be  fruitless,  I  concluded  to 
run  the  risk  of  watching  the  town  of  Big  Biver 
Mills,  which  was  at  that  time  a  place  of  rendezvous 
for  the  Militia,  where  they  generally  collected  be 
fore  starting  out  against  me. 

I  accordingly  took  my  station  on  a  bluff  overlook 
ing  the  main  road  leading  from  the  settlement  of 
my  old  enemies  to  that  place,  being  about  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  below  the  town  and  fifty  yards  from  the 
road.  At  daylight  I  was  on  the  bluff  and  ready  for 
business.  During  the  day  people  passed  the  road  at 
intervals  of  from  fifteen  minutes  to  half  an  hour; 
but  none  of  them  were  the  men  I  wanted  to  kill. 
From  the  position  I  occupied  I  could  easily  recog 
nize  the  features  of  any  one  with  whom  I  was  for 
merly  acquainted. 

In  the  evening,  about  an  hour  by  sun,  I  discovered 
a  man  riding  slowly  and  alone  toward  the  town, 
whom  I  recognized  as  Joe  McGahan.  A  thrill  of 


200  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

intense  satisfaction  pervaded  my  whole  system, 
which  it  would  be  folly  in  me  to  attempt  to  describe. 
The  English  language  from  its  high  standard  of  dig 
nity  to  its  inexhaustible  mine  of  scathing  invective 
would  be  inadequate  to  describe  the  supreme  con 
tempt  I  felt  for  that  man.  When  I  reflected  that 
one  of  the  men  who  had  dipped  his  hands  in  the 
blood  of  my  brothers  was  now  within  the  range  of 
my  gun,  my  feelings  of  joy,  mingled  with  a  hope  of 
success  was  indescribable.  Nearer  and  nearer  he 
came,  unconscious  that  retributive  justice  was  hang 
ing  over  his  head ;  and  as  he  approached  the  de 
sired  point  I  raised  my  trusty  rifle  to  my  face,  placed 
my  finger  on  the  trigger,  and  was  nearly  in  the  act 
of  pulling  when  the  man  turned  his  face  a  little  to 
ward  me,  when  I  discovered  the  sad  and  almost 
fatal  mistake,  that  instead  of  being  McGrahan  it  was 
a  man  by  the  name  of  Sharp.  He  was  a  Union  man 
living  near  by,  but  was  a  worthy  man  and  highly 
esteemed  by  all  who  knew  him.  I  almost  involun 
tarily  hailed  him  in  order  to  explain  and  apologize, 
but  was  checked  instantly  by  the  return  of  reason- 
As  he  passed  slowly  out  of  sight  my  eyes  were 
riveted  on  him  until  a  point  of  the  bluff  around  which 
he  had  passed  broke -the  spell.  I  was  deeply  ab 
sorbed  in  thought,  and  the  question  naturally  arose 
in  my  mind,  why  I  should  have  been  so  often 
thwarted  in  my  attempts  to  meet  out  justice  to  one 
who  was  a  scourge  to  the  land  that  gave  him  birth, 
and  who  had  not  even  the  magnanimity  of  the  rat- 


SAMUEL   *.   H1LDEBRAND.  201 

tlesnake  whose  alarm  is  heard  before  the  blow  is 
struck. 

I  arrived  finally  to  the  conclusion  that  his  Satanic 
Majesty,  who  still  ruled  the  infernal  regions  with 
out  a  rival,  was  jealous  of  his  protege  upon  earth 
where  he  still  needed  his  services,  and  that  he  wished 
to  delay  the  period  when  he  woul  d  te  compelled  to 
doff  his  crown  to  a  superior. 

I  did  not  remain  long  in  ambush  after  I  had  come 
so  near  committing  a  terrible  error;  but  hastened 
through  the  woods,  back  to  my  retreat  among  the 
Pike  Run  hills,  and  found  my  men  awaiting  my  re 
turn  with  anxious  impatience.  As  soon  as  it  was 
dark  we  started  south,  and  after  midnight  reached 
the  pinery,  southwest  from  Farmington,  and  slept 
there  until  late  in  the  morning.  Our  horses  were 
much  fagged,  we  saw  that  it  was  best  to  swap  them 
off  before  proceeding  on  our  journey. 

During  the  day  we  stationed  ourselves  near  the 
plank  road  between  Farmington  and  Pilot  Knob,  to 
watch  for  an  opportunity  of  exchanging  horses.  A 
large  company  of  Federals  passed  by,  but  they  were 
too  numerous  for  our  purpose.  Toward  evening  we 
saw  three  men  approaching  who  were  mounted 
upon  fine  looking  horses.  The  names  of  the  men. 
were  BurgeSj  Hughes  and  Kelley.  We  lost  no  time 
in  capturing  the  party,  and  to  prevent  them  from  re 
porting  us  too  soon,  we  made  them  go  with  us  seve 
ral  miles  over  the  rugged  hills  and  deep  ravines. 

Not  understanding  this  movement,  they  seemed 


$02  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

much  alarmed,  thinking  probably  that  we  designed 
"barking"  them. 

Old  man  Burges  begged  manfully  for  his  life,  and 
shed  s*n  occasional  tear;  bat  I  told  him  that  as  they 
were  not  Federal  soldiers,  and  that  as  I  had  no  per 
sonal  animosity  against  them,  it  would  be  barbarous 
in  the  extreme  for  us  to  harm  them.  We  took  their 
horses,  gave  them  our  own  and  then  released  them. 
They  left  seemingly  very  well  pleased  with  the  ar 
rangement,  and  as  we  had  rather  out-jockeyed  them, 
we  certainly  had  no  right  to  complain. 

We  kept  near  the  road  leading  to  Pilot  Knob  un 
til  near  sunset,  when  we  came  to  Abrighl's  store. 
Abright  was  a  good  Union  Dutchman,  and  was  not 
in  the  habit  of  crediting  bushwhackers,  so  we  rob 
bed  his  store  of  all  we  wanted  and  then  taking  the 
woods  we  changed  our  course. 

Night  soon  overtook  us,  arid  we  traveled  eastward 
until  we  got  into  the  neighborhood  where  Mr.  Bess 
resided,  on  White  Water.  It  was  now  late  in  the 
morning,  and  we  took  our  position  on  the  top  of  a 
high  hill  where  we  had  a  fine  view  of  the  surround 
ing  country,  and  especially  of  the  main  road  along 
which  the  Federals  were  in  the  habit  of  passing 
from  Cape  Girardeau  to  Fredericktown. 

In  the  evening,  while  most  of  us  were  sleeping, 
my  pickets  discovered  a  small  squad  of  soldiers 
about  half  a  mile  off,  making  their  way  westward. 
On  being  awakened  I  directed  my  men  to  follow 
me,  went  down  to  the  road  which  was  skirted  by 
very  thick  undergrowth,  where  we  secreted  our 


SAMUEL   3.   MILDEBRANB. 

selves  in  two  parties  about  fifty  yards  apart,  giving 
orders  not  to  fire  on  the  Federals  unless  they  showed 
fight  or  attempted  to  run.  When  they  got  near  the 
second  squad  we  stepped  out  into  the  road  and  de 
manded  them  to  surrender.  Our  appearance  was 
so  sudden  that  they  had  no  time  to  draw  their 
weapons.  Several  of  them  wheeled  their  horses  for 
a  run,  but  on  discovering  themselves  faced  on  that 
side  also  they  threw  up  their  hands  in  token  of  a 
willingness  to  surrender. 

I  made  them  dismount  and  stack  their  arms 
against  a  tree;  after  which  we  marched  them  into 
the  woods  to  where  our  horses  were  and  proceeded 
to  question  them. 

Then  I  told  them  who  I  was,  at  which  they  seemed 
rather  pleased,  and  remarked  that  they  had  often 
heard  of  me,  and  although  they  had  no  desire  to  fall 
into  my  hands  as  prisoners  of  war,  yet  they  always 
wished  to  see  me. 

I  asked  them  if  they  had  not  heard  of  me  as  being 
a  bushwhacker  and  withal  a  very  bad  man,  and 
that  I  was  in  the  habit  of  killing  all  my  prisoners. 
"Oh,  yes  !"  said  their  leader,  "we  have  heard  that 
you  did  not  regard  the  life  of  a  personal  enemy  as 
of  any  value,  but  we  have  seen  several  men  whom 
you  had  released  who  told  us  that  you  was  quite  a 
different  man  from  the  fabulous  blood-thirsty  Hilde- 
brand  we  have  heard  so  much  about  in  timid  circles." 

Upon  producing  papers  which  satisfied  us  that 
they  were  neither  McNeal's  orLeeper's  men,  but  be 
longed  to  th&  command  of  Ool.  Beverage  of  Cape 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

Girardeau,  we  released  them  unarmed  and  afoot. 
We  went  on  toward  Bollinger's  Mill,  but  when  in 
that  vicinity  on  the  next  morning  about  sunrise,  we 
met  two  Federals  in  the  road,  who  instantly  wheeled 
their  horses  and  dashed  through  the  woods  at  full 
speed. 

Being  burdened  with  the  horses  and  the  arms  we 
had  taken  from  our  prisoners  on  the  day  previous, 
all  of  us  could  not  engage  in  the  pursuit.  Captain 
Snap,  myself  and  two  men  started  after  them  at  full 
speed,  and  caught  them  in  less  than  half  a  mile. 
They  stopped  and  threw  up  their  hands  before  we 
were  within  two  hundred  yards  of  them.  I  was  al 
most  tempted  to  shoot  them  for  being  cowards. 

After  taking  them  back  to  our  boys,  we  went  on 
the  top  of  an  adjacent  hill  and  camped  for  the  day. 
We  ascertained  from  the  prisoners  that  they  were 
new  recruits,  which  was  corroborated  by  some  let 
ters  from  their  friends  which  they  happened  to  have 
in  their  pockets. 

K  nowing  that  they  had  not  been  in  the  army  long 
enough  to  have  committed  many  depredations,  we 
decided  to  release  them;  but  as  we  were  already 
burdened  with  horses  we  took  them  along  with  us 
to  assist  with  our  stock  until  we  had  passed  Mingo 
Swamp,  and  then  released  them.  A  few  days  after 
wards  we  arrived  safely  in  Green  county,  Arkansas. 


SAMUEL    *.    HILDEBKAND, 


CHAPTER 


XXYL 


Started  to  St.  Francois  county,  Missouri. — Hung  Vogus  and  Zlm- 
mer. — Hung  George  Hart. — Concealed  in  Pike  Run  Hills. — 
Started  back. — Hung  Mr.  Met? a  negro,  and  another  Qtie*~-Took 
two  deserters  back  and  hung  them. 

After  remaining  a  few  days  with  my  family,  I  yielded 
to  the  solicitation  of  Captain  Bowman  to  take  a  trip  to 
St.  Francois  county,  Missouri,  for  the  purpose  of  cap 
turing  a  young  man  by  the  name  of  George  Hart,  who, 
on  a  scout  with  some  militia,  had  killed  Captain  Bow 
man's  brother  in  order  to  get  a  very  fine  horse  that  he 
rode. 

Our  company,  consisting  of  nine  men,  started  on  the 
20th  day  of  June,  1864 ;  we  traveled  altogether  in  the 
night,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  26th  we  camped  for 
the  day  on  Wolf  creek,  about  six  miles  from  Farming- 
ton.  During  the  day  one  of  my  men  clad  himself  in 
citizen's  clothes,  which  we  always  carried  along  for 
such  emergencies,  and  went  into  Farmington  to  see 
the  sights  and  to  get  a  bottle  of  good  old  "tangle-foot." 

When  night  came  our  man  had  not  made  his  appear 
ance;  we  immediately  arrested  a  couple  of  Dutchmen 
for  the  purpose  of  eliciting  information  from  them  con. 
cerning  the  military  force  in  town,  thinking  that  prob 
ably  my  man  had  been  taken  in  by  the  soldiers  as  a  spy. 
The  men  we  arrested  were  Henry  Yogus  and  John 
Dimmer,  who  stated  that  there  were  no  forces  in  town 


206  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

at  that  time,  and  that  there  had  been  no  soldiers  there 
for  nearly  a  month.  They  affirmed  that  they  had  been 
there  that  day,  and  that  if  we  did  not  believe  them  they 
would  go  with  us  to  town  and  prove  the  matter.  At 
this  juncture  my  man  came  in  and  reported  a  company 
of  soldiers  in  the  town  who  had  been  there  for  some 
time.  It  was  now  evident  to  our  minds  that  the  Dutch 
men  were  aiming  to  trap  us.  I  will  here  state  that 
during  the  whole  war  the  Dutch  went  further,  tried 
harder  and  risked  more  for  my  capture  than  any  other 
people.  A  very  short  consultation  was  sufficient  to 
seal  the  fate  of  our  two  prisoners  on  the  present  occas 
ion;  we  hung  them  and  went  on  our  way  rejoicing. 
Passing  a  short  distance  east  of  Farmington,  we  stopped 
at  the  house  of  Boss  Jelkyl,  who  was  at  that  time  Pro 
vost  Marshal,  and  took  such  things  as  we  needed. 
Some  of  my  men  were  anxious  to  kill  him,  but  he  had 
befriended  me  on  one  occasion,  and  I  would  not  permit 
them  to  do  so. 

From  there  we  went  to  the  residence  of  Charles  Hart, 
where  we  found  his  son  George,  whom  we  were  after. 
We  stationed  men  at  the  back  door  and  demanded  ad 
mittance  at  the  front;  the  old  man  in  a  short  time 
opened  the  door,  and  in  obedience  to  our  orders  struck 
a  light.  On  demanding  George  Hart  he  made  his  ap 
pearance,  looking  very  much  condemned.  On  asking 
him  about  the  horse  he  had  taken  when  he  murdered 
young  Bowman,  ho  stated  that  he  had  traded  him  off, 
and  that  he  was  out  of  the  country.  We  then  told  him 
that  he  must  go  with  us,  to  which  he  made  no  objec 
tion,  but  was  very  anxious  to  know  what  w&  wished  tq 


SAMUEL  &.  HILDEBRANB.  207 

do  with  him;  we  told  him  to  wait  and  soe.  Before  we 
had  taken  him  far,  he  became  satisfied  that  he  would 
be  killed,  and  made  us  some  offers  for  his  life,  which 
Captain  Bowman  silenced  in  a  few  words  by  asking 
him  if  he  thought  he  was  able  to  pay  for  the  life  of 
young  Bowman  whom  he  had  murdered  in  cold  blood. 
^Ve  traveled  about  eight  miles  with  our  prisoner,  during 
which  time  he  made  a  complete  confession. 

Daylight  began  to  appear;  we  were  now  about  a  mile 
from  Big  Biver  Mills,  and  not  wishing  to  be  encum- 
bereci  by  a  prisoner,  we  took  some  hickory  bark  and 
hung  him  to  a  dogwood  sapling.  One  of  his  feet  touched 
the  ground,  so  we  placed  it  in  the  fork  of  a  bush, 
which  completed  the  process  of  hanging. 

The  main  object  of  our  trip  having  been  accomplished, 
our  next  move  was  to  get  supplies  of  summer  clothing 
for  our  families,  which  we  decided  on  taking  from  an 
old  meddlesome  Union  German  in  Jefferson  county  by 
the  name  of  Lepp,  who  had  a  store  on  a  small  creek 
called  Swashen.  We  accordingly  proceeded  to  the 
place  and  found  the  old  man  in  his  store ;  he  was  close- 
fisted  and  not  in  the  habit  of  crediting,  but  we  succeeded 
in  getting  all  we  wanted  at  very  low  figures,  and  after 
promising  him  our  patronage  in  the  future  we  started 
back. 

Knowing  that  our  operations  about  Farmington 
would  create  a  great  excitement,  that  the  forces  at 
Pilot  Knob,  Farmington,  Potosi,  Fredericktown  and 
the  Iron  Mountain  with  the  irrepressible  Big  River 
Militia,  would  all  be  put  on  our  trail,  we  decided  to 
travel  by  night  and  to  get  out  of  the  country  as  soon 


$  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   ©I 

as  possible.  But  we  were  overruled  by  a  power  higher 
than  our  own,  and  our  plans  were  in  some  measure 
thwarted. 

On  our  way  to  rob  Lepp's  store,  one  of  my  men 
complained  of  feeling  unwell,  and  by  the  time  we  had 
rode  ten  miles  on  our  return  he  became  too  sick  to  sit 
upon  his  horse.  We  retreated  to  a  cave  in  the  Pike 
Run  hills  where  we  could  conceal  ourselves,  our  horses 
and  our  goods  while  administering  to  the  wants  of  our 
sick  comrade.  Our  situation  here  was  indeed  a  very 
critical  one,  and  had  it  not  been  for  the  kindness  of  a 
true  Southern  friend,  who  supplied  us  at  night  with 
provisions  and  horse  feed,  we  undoubtedly  would  have 
suffered ;  he  risked  his  own  life  to  save  us;  and  in  addi 
tion  to  his  other  acts  of  kindness  he  procured  the  ser 
vices  of  a  physician,  who  checked  the-diseaso  in  a  few 
days. 

It  is  needless  to  state  that  during  all- this  time  the 
country  was  literally  flooded  with  Federal  soldiers 
who  hunted  for  me  on  their  same  old  plan,  of  riding 
along  the  road,  threatening  women  and  children,  and 
killing  chickens. 

After  remaining  at  the  Pike  Bun  hills  seven  or  eight 
days,  our  comrade  was  sufficiently  recovered  to  mount 
his  horse.  As  he  was  yet  quite  weak  we  thought  it 
best  to  travel  during  daylight  at  the  commencement  of 
our  trip.  We  rode  slowly  through  the  woods,  and 
avoided  the  soldiers  by  keeping  out  of  the  public  roads, 
and  by  shunning  all  places  where  liquor  could  be  ob 
tained.  On  reaching  the  vicinity  of  my  brothers-in- 
law,  on  Flat  river,  we  met  old  Isaac,  a  negro  belonging 


SAMUEL   S.  ttlLDEBKAND.  209 

to  Mr.  Metis,  carrying  a  bridle  around  his  shoulder* 
As  we  were  dressed  in  Federal  uniform  he  mistook  us 
for  Union  soldiers,  and  in  answer  to  our  inquiries,  made 
a  lengthy  report  against  the  Southern  men  in  that 
neighborhood,  clearly  implicating  the  Simms  family  as 
well  as  the  Shannons  and  Sweeneys,  He  said  he  would 
have  reported  sooner,  but  that  he  was  afraid  they 
would  suspicion  him  and  get  Sam  Hildebrand  to  put 
him  out  of  the  way. 

The  report  he  made  to  us,  if  told  to  a  squad  of  Fed* 
orals,  was  sufficient  to  have  consigned  those  Southern 
men  to  an  ignominious  death  without  any  further  evi 
dence.  The  charge  was  this:  that  in  his  opinion  " if 
Sam  Hildebrand  was  to  call  at  their  houses  and  ask 
for  something  to  eat,  that  they  would  feed  him  until  he 
was  as  plump  as  a  stuffed  turkey."  Some  of  my  boys 
wanted  to  shoot  him  to  prevent  him  from  making  that 
awful  revelation  to  the  Federal  authorities ;  but  I  ob 
jected,  because  the  sound  of  a  gun  might  lead  to  our 
discovery.  We  quietly  lashed  him  to  a  horse  which 
we  were  leading,  took  him  among  the  hills  toward 
Westover's  mill  and  hung  him.  On  searching  his 
pockets  for  a  knife  I  found  a  pocket  book  containing 
sixty-four  dollars.  Some  of  the  boys  proposed  that  as 
they  seemed  to  have  money  we  should  take  in  a  few 
negroes  until  our  pockets  were  replenished.  On  the 
next  day  we  came  suddenly  across  one  in  the  woods ; 
as  we  were  traveling  slowly  it  was  ntcessary  that  we 
should  get  through  the  country  without  being  reported. 
Having  no  spare  rope,  we  hung  the  negro  with  hickory 


210  AUfOBIQ&RAPHY  OF 

bark;  but  on  searching  his  pockets  we  found  nothing 
but  a  cob  pipe. 

Nothing  else  worthy  of  note  occurred  until  we  reach 
ed  the  vicinity  of  Greenville,  While  camped  for  the 
day  on  a  high  elevation,  we  discovered  two  men  eom-> 
ing  up  the  bill  toward  us.  Under  the  supposition  that 
they  were  tracking  u»,  we  were  about  to  shoot  them,, 
but  discovered  presently  that  they  were  not  armed, 
They  eam/e  leisurely  up  the  hill,  walking  as  if  they 
were-  very  tired,  and  got  within  fifteen  steps  of  our 
camp  before  they  discovered  it,  Their  first  impulses1 
was  to  run,  but  we  ordered  them  to  &urrender,  and 
they  abandoned  all  idea  of  being  able  to  make-  their 
escape.  They  proved  to  be  deserters  from  the  Federal 
army  at  Ironton,  who  were  making  their  way  to  their 
homes  at  JSTew  Madrid.  One  of  my  men  knew  them 
well,  and  to  him  they  are  indebted  to  this  day  for  their 
lives,-  "We  kept  them  with  us  until  night  and  then  per 
mitted  them  to  continue  their  journey. 

We  were  no  little  amused  at  the  many  horrible  tales- 
of  pillage  and  blood-shed  that  they  &aid  were  reported 
daily  at  the  Federal  camps  about  my  deprecations* 
The  strangest  part  of  it  was  that  many  of  those  enor 
mities  were  committed  on  the  same  dar  and  in  locali 
ties  very  remote-  from  each  other- 

When  night  came  the  rest  of  the  company  proceeded 
on  to  Arkansas  "f  but  Captain  Bowman,  Traster  and 
myself  concluded  to-  go  into-  Shannon  county  after  a 
couple  of  deserters  who,  in  the  early  part  of  the  wai> 
had  belonged  to  Captain  Bolin^s  command.  While  with 
««r  however,  they  were-  of  no  serviee/being  too  cow- 


SAJtfUEL  €.   HIIjfrEBRAND.  '211 

I 

ardly  to  fight  and  too  lazy  to  steal;  but  since  their 
desertion  they  were  constantly  reporting  every  squad 
of  rebels  who  visited  that  section  of  country,  and  were 
in  the  habit  of  annoying  Southern  citizens  in  that 
neighborhood. 

On  reaching  tlae  neighborhood  where  Jthey  lived  we 
learned  that  they  had  gon<e  to  Irontou,  and  the  sup 
position  was  that  t&ey  had  «gone  there  for  the  purpose 
of  joining  the  Union  army.  But  on  the  next  day  they 
returned;  we  quietly  arrested  them,  got  them  out  of 
the  country  without  creating  any  alarm  and  marched 
them  back  to  Green  county,  Arkansas,  where  we  hung 
ihem  in  the  presence  of  the  command. 


212  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 


CHAPTEE  XXVII. 

Started  with  nine  men  to  St.  Francois  county. — Stopped  in  tJie 
Pike  Run  Hills. — Robbed  the  store  of  Christopher  Le-pp.—Hunp 
Mr.  Kinder's  negro. — Attacked  by  Federals. — Rilled  two  and 
tost  a  -man. — Shot  two  soldiers  on  a  furlough. — TJie  strange 
tamp. 

I  had  not  been  at  home  long  before  I  formed  the  ac 
quaintance  of  a  man  by  the  name  of  G  ibson,  who  had 
come  to  our  little  Green  County  Confederacy  for  the 
purpose  of  joining  the  "bushwhacking  department/' 
Gibson  was  a  man  possessing  some  superior  advan 
tages  over  most  of  Capt.  Bolin's  men ;  he  had  an  ac 
complished  education,  and  was  endowed  with  a  pecu 
liar  faculty  of  making  all  the  men  like  him.  He  was 
the  best  marksman  in  our  whole  company,  with  one 
single  exception  ;  and  that  exception,  I  must  modestly 
assert  for  the  sake  of  truth,  was  myself. 

On  the  16th  day  of  July,  I  selected  Gibson  and  eight 
other  men  for  another  trip  into  St.  Francois  county. 
Having  made  so  many  failures  in  that  quarter,  I  had 
some  forebodings  that  I  would  again  meet  with  disap 
pointments  ;  but  I  had  long  since  resolved  to  let  my 
old  enemies  have  no  peace  while  I  labored  under  no 
greater  disadvantages  than  I  did.  It  is  true  that  they 
were  backed  by  a  great  nation  of  untold  wealth,  whose 
enemies  actually  in  the  field  numbered  more  than  one 
million  and  a  half  of  armed  men,  and  whofce  line  o 


SAMUEL   S.   HILDEBRANB.  213 

garrisoned  territory  extended  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  south  of  their  nest  on  Big  river;  yet  while  I 
thought  that  I  was  backed  by  the  South  with  her 
armies  of  three  hundred  thousand  men,  I  asked  no  bet 
ter  amusement  than  that  of  striking  at  my  enemies 
under  the  ponderous  wing  of  Federal  protection. 

Unlike  my  enemies,  I  had  no  commissary  depart 
ment,  no  steam  presses  running  night  and  day  striking 
off  greenbacks,  no  outlet  to  other  nations  by  commer 
cial  treaties,  no  people  at  my  back  willing  to  be  sad 
dled  with  a  debt  of  three  or  four  thousand  millions  of 
dollars  merely  to  carry  into  effect  a  Utopian  idea. 
My  long  marches  had  to  be  made  in  the  night  and  with 
the  utmost  caution  and  secrecy.  The  woods  were  my 
home,  the  moon  my  orb  of  light,  and  the  hooting  owls 
my  spectators. 

My  enemies  long  since  had  learned  to  fear  my  name; 
the  fear  of  retributive  justice  was  sufficient  to  make 
them  cower;  their  militia  organization  only  assumed  a 
tangible  shape  when  I  was  absent ;  for  on  my  approach 
they  secreted  themselves  so  securely  that  nothing  short 
of  the  prolonged  sound  of  Gabriel's  trump  could  ever 
be  able  to  bring  them  forth. 

We  passed  quietly  through  Butler  county,  along  the 
western  line  of  Madison,  then  through  St.  Francois  and 
across  Big  river  to  those  native  hills  and  hunting 
grounds  of  my  boyhood,  known  as  the  Pike  Run  hills. 

The  reader  munt  bear  in  mind  that  these  hills  pos 
sess  peculiar  advantages  over  any  other  part  of  the 
country  between  St.  Louis  *and  the  Arkansas  line. 

They    look    like  the   fragments    of    a  broken    up 


214  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

world  piled  together  in  dread  confusion,  and  termin 
ating  finally  in  an  abrupt  bluff  on  the  margin  of  Big 
river,  where  nature  has  left  a  cavern  half  way  up  the 
perpendicular  rock,  now  known  as  "  The  Hildebrand 
Cave,"  the  mouth  to  which  cannot  be  seen  either  from 
the  top  or  bottom. 

Among  these  rugged  hills,  covered  over  by  the  dense 
forest  and  wild  grape  vines,  are  many  yawning  cav 
erns  known  to  some  hunters,  while  there  are  doubtless 
many  others  never  yet  seen  by  the  eye  of  man.  "We 
took  up  our  abode  in  one  of  these  caverns  during  the 
inclemency  of  the  weather,  and  as  the  ground  was  too 
soft  to  venture  out  on  horseback,  for  fear  of  leaving  a 
trail,  I  went  around  through  the  Big  river  neighbor 
hood  on  foot,  for  the  purpose  of  finding  some  of  my 
enemies.  The  only  one  I  saw  was  James  Craig;  I  dis 
covered  him  one  day  in  the  act  of  leaving  home  on 
foot,  so  I«nade  a  circuit  through  the  woods  and 
stationed  myself  in  advance  with  the  intention  of  ar 
resting  him.  I  wished  to  take  him  to  n^  cavern  that 
my  comrades  also  might  see  him  hung;  but  he  never 
came  along,  and  thus  I  missed  my  game  entirely. 

By  this  time  my  men  were  tired  of  inaction,  so  we 
started  on  our  march,  and  on  going  about  fifteen  miles 
we  came  to  a  place  called  the  Tunnel,  on  the  Iron 
Mountain  railroad. 

From  the  store  of  Christopher  Lepp,  we  supplied 
ourselves  with  all  the  articles  that  we  coiild  conven 
iently  carry,  took  our  back  track  to  the  crossing  of  Big 
river,  near  the  ruins  of  the  Hildebrand  homestead,  and 
made  our  way  toward  Castor  creek,  for  the  purpose 


SAMUEL   S.   HIL&EBRAND.  215 

of  squelching  a  negro  belonging  to  Mr.  Kinder.  This 
negro  had  become  notorious  for  his  meddlesome  na 
ture,  and  his  propensity  for  reporting  white  men.  On 
the  night  of  our  arrival  there,  we  succeeded  in  finding 
him,  and  to  satisfy  ourselves  thoroughly  in  regard  to 
his  meanness,  we  passed  ourselves  off  for  Federals,  and 
questioned  him  concerning  his  old  master.  He  very 
freely  and  exultingly  proceeded  to  relate  the  many 
reasons  he  had  for  believing  that  he  was  disloyal.  We 
asked  him  whether  or  not  he  was  willing  for  us  to  kill 
the  old  man.  He  told  us  that  he  would  kill  him  him 
self  if  we  would  see  him  out  in  itj  that  the  soldiers  had 
told  him  two  or  three  months  ago  that  if  he  would  kill 
him  that  he  should  have  the  farm,  but  that  as  yet 
he  had  not  succeeded  in  getting  a  good  opportunity. 
At  this  we  were  satisfied  that  he  would  make  good 
food  for  the  buzzards,  so  we  hung  him  up  for  that  pur 
pose,  and  started  on  our  way. 

We  were  now  traveling  in  day  time  and  pursuing 
our  way  very  leisurely,  when  about  four  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  we  were  trailed  up  and  ran  into  by  a  company 
of  Federals,  who  had  probably  been  trailing  us  all  day. 
They  ran  on  to  us  in  good  earnest,  and  seemed  very 
anxious  for  the  honor  of  capturing  or  killing  me.  The 
manner  of  their  attack  is  worthy  of  note.  On  getting 
within  sight  of  us  they  held  back  until  we  were  passing 
over  the  backbone  of  a  ridge,  then  they  made  a  rush, 
and  on  getting  to  the  top  of  the  hill  were  within  one 
hundred  yards  of  us.  Their  elevation  caused  them  to 
over  shoot  all  of  us  except  one  poor  fellow,  one  of  our 
new  recruits,  who  was  shot  through  the  head.  W« 


216  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

dashed  into  the  brush  and  went  over  that  rough  conn- 
try  about  a  mile  at  full  speed;  then  giving  up  our  horses 
to  the  other  men  with  directions  where  to  meet  us, 
Gibson,  myself  and  two  others,  started  back  on  foot  to 
"  bushwhack  "  them.  On  getting  within  two  hundred 
yards  of  where  jmr  dead  man  lay,  we  saw  them  exult 
ing  over  their  victory.  I  directed  my  men  to  make 
their  way  around  and  take  their  positions  along  the 
road  where  they  could  get  a  shot,  while  I  taok  it  upon 
myself  to  run  them  back.  I  crawled  up  within  one 
hundred  yards  of  the  party,  got  a  bead  on  one  of  them, 
and  when  I  fired  he  fell  from  his  horse  within  a  few 
feet  of  where  our  dead  man  lay.  This  was  all  that  was 
necessary  to  put  them  on  their  back  track,  and  they 
were  off  at  full  speed  j  as  they  passed  my  men  they  all 
ured  in  turn,  Gibson  brought  one  to  the  ground,  but  I 
think  the  other  boys  missed  their  aim,  although  they 
insisted  to  the  last  that  they  wounded  a  man  apiece. 

We  secured  the  horses  belonging  to  the  two  men  we 
killed,  and  started  on  our  journey,  and  on  the  follow 
ing  morning  took  up  quarters  within  eight  miles  of 
Bloomfield. 

During  the  day,  myself  and  Bill  E-ucker,  walked 
down  to  a  plum  thicket  near  the  road,  and  while  wo 
were  there  eating  plums,  we  discovered  two  Dutchmen 
dressed  in  citizens'  clothes  passing  by.  We  called  to 
them  to  come  and  get  some  plums,  which  they  readily 
consented  to  do.  As  we  were  dressed  in  Federal  uni 
form  they  seemed  at  once  to  take  us  for  Union  sol 
diers.  We  asked  them  to  what  command  they  be 
longed  j  who  they  were,  and  why  they  w«r«  not  in 


SAMUEL   8.  HILDEBRAND.  217 

the  service.  They  said  they  belonged  to  Leeper's  corn- 
man  d,  and  were  on  a  furlough  to  see  their  uncle  living 
at  Mine  LaMotte,  that  they  had  on  borrowed  clothes 
and  no  arms  in  order  to  fool  the  Kebels,  should  they 
meet  any.  We  found  out  a  great  deal  about  "  Bolin's 
and  Hildebrand's  band  of  murderers  and  ropers/'  as 
they  called  us.  We  shot  them  both,  and  returned  to 
camp.  At  night  we  started  on,  and  in  a  few  days  ar 
rived  safely  at  our  usual  place  of  crossing  the  St. 
Francis. 

We  arrived  on  the  bank  of  the  river  just  after  dark, 
and  were  startled  by  the  appearance  of  a  camp  on  the 
other  side  at  the  mouth  of  a  little  creek.  We  could 
easily  perceive  the  reflection  from  several  camp  fires 
among  the  trees,  and  more  than  once  we  caught  the 
sound  of  human  voices. 

Could  it  be  possible  that  this  was  a  camp  of  Fede 
rals  ?  If  so,  why  did  they  not  place  out  their  pickets  ? 
The  more  we  studied  about  the  matter  the  further  were 
we  from  coming  to  any  conclusion. 

We  rode  back  into  the  timbered  bottom  and  con 
tinued  our  way  down  the  country  at  some  distance 
from  the  river,  until  we  were  about  a  mile  below  the 
strange  looking  camp,  and  there  crossed  the  river  by 
swimming  it. 

After  continuing  up  the  river  a  short  distance  we 
rode  on  to  a  high  brushy  point  and  dismounted.  Then 
taking  it  on  foot  I  proceeded  to  spy  out  the  mysterious 
camp  above  us.  I  continued  to  approach  cautiously 
watching  closely  for  the  pickets,  but  I  saw  nothing  of 
them.  Finally  I  stood  in  the  midst  of  perhaps  a  dozen 
10 


218  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

little  brush  shanties,  and  yet  saw  not  a  single  human 
being.  I  was  more  puzzled  than  ever.  I  peeped  into 
one  of  the  brush  arbors  and  a  lady's  voice  cried  out  : 
"  Who  is  that  ?"  The  alarm  spread,  and  I  heard  the 
voices  of  women  in  every  direction. 

Presently  I  heard  the  voice  of  my  wife,  and  on  go 
ing  to  her  I  soon  learned  the  particulars  of  the  calam 
ity  that  had  befallen  our  community  in  our  absence. 


SAMU1L  S.  HILDEBRAND. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

Capt.  John,  with  a  company  of  Federals,  burns  the  Headquarters 
in  Green  county,  Arkansas. — He  is  "bushwhacked,"  routed  and 
killed. — Raid  into  Washington  tounty  with  fourteen  men. — At' 
tacked  by  twenty  Federals. — Killed  a  Union  man  for  piloting 
Capt.  John. 

A  few  days  before  my  arrival  in  Arkansas,  our  lit 
tle  community  of  women  and  children  at  headquarters, 
were  suddenly  aroused  from  their  slumbers  one  morn 
ing  by  the  firing  of  a  gun,  and  found  themselves  sur 
rounded  by  a  whole  company  of  Federals  under  the 
command  of  Capt.  John  from  Ironton,  Missouri. 

All  the  men  were  absent  on  different  scouting  expe 
ditions,  except  eight  men,  who  happened  to  be  in  camp 
that  morning;  they  seized  their  guns  and  endeavored 
to  make  their  escape,  but  seven  of  them  were  shot 
down,  and  the  other  made  his  escape  unhurt.  The  Fed 
erals  immediately  commenced  burning  the  houses,  af 
ter  taking  all  the  provisions  and  clothing  they  could 
find. 

The  women  in  great  consternation,  gathered  their 
children,  and  in  their  night  clothes  huddled  together 
in  the  centre  of  the  square  j  there  in  their  helpless  cSn- 
dition  to  watch  the  devouring  flames  that  was  fast 
winding  around  them  and  reducing  their  homes  to 
ashes. 

Before  the  houses  were  all  in  flames  however,  Capt. 


220  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

John  ordered  his  men  to  supply  the  women  with  what 
clothing  they  could  snatch  from  the  flames. 

After  their  hasty  toilet  was  concluded  their  terror 
subsided,  and  with  perfect  composure  they  watched 
the  progress  of  the  flames  without  betraying  any  emo 
tion;  they  were  determined  that  the  Federals  should 
be  'deprived  [the  satisfaction  of  believing  that  they 
had  triumphed  over  their  spirit  of  eternal  enmity  to 
the  FederaFcause. 

Some  of  our  boys  who  had  been  out  on  a  hunt  now 
returned  toward  the  camp,  and  before  they  were  aware 
the  Federals  fired  upon  them  and  killed  two  of  their 
number.  As  the  scouts  were  in  the  habit  of  coming  in 
from  various  directions,  it  was  impossible  to  give  them 
warning  before  they  were  completely  in  the  Federal 
trap. 

A  few  hours  after  the  tragedy  commenced,  the  Fed 
erals  had  all  left,  and  the  women  in  squads  of  five  or 
six,  went  in  different  directions  and  camped  a  few 
miles  off  to  meet  the  scouts  as  they  returned. 

My  wife  and  her  party  had  camped  near  the  St. 
Francis  river,  and  were  living  on  fish  when  I  returned. 
The  Federals  were  still  in  the  neighborhood,  burning 
the  farm  houses,  mills  and  shops. 

On  the  same  night  that  I  learned  these  particulars, 
I  sent  all  my  men  out  in  different  directions  to  ferret 
out  the  enemy  and  to'meet  at  a  designated  place  before 
daylight.  With  much  difficulty  we  succeeded  in  find 
ing  several  squads  of  the  Federals,  trom  which  we  in 
ferred,  that  finding  our  men  mostly  absent,  they  had 


SAMUEL   S.   HILDEBRAND.  221 

divided  into  many  little  bands  to  finish  their  work  of 
devastating  the  country  as  soon  as  possible. 

We  met  at  the  time  and  place  designated,  and  con 
cluded  that  our  only  chance  was  to  "bushwhack"  the 
Federals,  and  thus  drive  them  out  of  the  country  as 
soon  as  possible.  Two  men  were  detailed  to  take  a 
trip  up  Black  river,  to  notify  Capt.  Bolin,  and  as  many 
men  as  they  could  find,  of  what  was  going  on,  that  they 
might  intercept  the  Federals  and  "  bushwhack  "  them 
after  I  should  succeed  in  routing  them  from  the 
country. 

In  less  than  an  hour  our  company  was  increased  to 
fifteen  men.  We  hastened  on  foot  toward  the  lower 
end  of  the  settlement,  and  on  getting  within  half  a 
mile  of  a  farm  house,  we  saw  about  thirty  Federals  en 
gaged  in  burning  the  buildings.  We  heard  the  dis 
charge  of  a  gun,  and  on  looking  in  that  direction,  we 
saw  a  Federal  reel  in  his  saddle  and  then  fall  to  the 
earth.  Two  soldiers  on  horseback  immediately  dashed 
toward  the  point  where  the  shot  proceeded  from,  and 
in  an  instant  we  saw  a  boy  about  thirteen  years  of 
age,  crawl  out  of  a  gully  and  start  toward  the  point  of 
the  hill  where  we  were  with  the  soldiers  after  him. 

The  boy  had  so  much  the  start  of  them  that  we  saw 
he  could  easily  reach  us  before  the  Federals  could 
overtake  him.  We  lay  concealed  in  the  thick  brush 
and  let  the  boy  pass  without  seeing  us;  the  soldiers 
were  soon  in  our  midst;  we  rose  up  and  made  them 
surrender  without  creating  any  alarm.  We  tied  them 
securely  and  awaited  the  approach  of  others  who  might 
be  sent  out  in  search  of  these  two. 


222  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

The  boy  was  greatly  overjoyed  when  he  found  out 
who  we  were.  In  about  half  an  hour  ten  Federals 
came  riding  up  toward  us.  Our  prisoners  had  been  re 
moved  back  half  a  mile  and  hung  to  prevent  an  alarm. 
We  saluted  the  Federals  with  a  sudden  discharge  from 
our  rifles,  and  six  of  them  dropped  from  their  horses  ; 
the  others  suddenly  wheeled  and  made  their  escape. 
The  other  soldiers  hastened  on  to  an  adjoining  ridge 
and  kept  up  a  harmless  fire  against  us  for  two  or  three 
hours;  they  did  this  to  divert  our  attention  as  it  ap 
pears,  for  before  we  were  fully  aware  of  the  fact  a  fresh 
force  of  Federals,  numbering  perhaps  forty  men,  com 
menced  a  deadly  fire  upon  us  in  our  rear,  and  soon 
drove  us  from  our  position.  Our  retreat  was  rather 
disorderly,  and  before  we  had  succeeded  in  crossing  a 
ravine  and  gaining  the  opposite  ridge,  four  of  my  men 
were  killed  and  two  others  slightly  wounded.  We  con 
tinued  our  retreat  for  five  miles,  and  then  placed  our 
selves  in  position  to  rake  the  Federals  without  much 
danger  to  ourselves.  Here  we  remained  for  several 
hours,  and  were  loth  to  leave  the  place,  but  it  finally 
became  apparent  to  us  that  the  intention  of  the  Fed 
erals  was  to  burn  out  the  neighborhood,  and  then  to 
hasten  back  before  we  could  collect  our  men  together. 

We  wound  our  way  through  the  woods  toward  our 
old  headquarters.  Late  in  the  evening  we  heard 
firing  in  front,  and  in  an  instant  we  started  in  that  di 
rection,  but  wore  soon  met  by  eight  of  our  men  who 
had  just  returned  from  a  scout,  without  knowing  what 
was  going  on.  As  they  were  on  the  retreat  we  did  not 
feel  justifiable  in  trying  to  make  a  stand  against  sueh 


SAMUEL  S.  HiLD£B*AtfD.  223 

superior  numbers,  so  we  diverged  to  the  right  and  let 
the  Federals  pass  without  attracting  their  attention. 

On  the  night  following  we  succeeded  in  finding  the 
Federal  camp,  and  during  the  whole  night  continued 
to  "  bushwhack  "  them  at  intervals,  until  we  bad  killed 
eight  or  ten  of  their  pickets.  The  next  morning  they 
seemed  to  have  taken  up  their  march  for  Missouri,  but 
during  the  whole  day  we  annoyed  them  all  we  could, 
by  posting  ourselves  in  positions  where  we  had  the  ad 
vantage,  and  thereby  picked  off  several  of  them.  Late 
in  the  evening  they  made  an  attempt  to  follow  us  into 
the  woods,  but  we  attacked  the  party  on  every  side } 
the  slaughter  was  terrible,  and  we  finally  put  them  to 
rout  after  killing  Capt.  John  himself,  and  quite  a  num 
ber  of  his  men. 

We  discovered  among  the  Federals,  several  citizens, 
whom  we  afterwards  learned  had  gone  from  Missouri 
for  the  purpose  of  giving  all  the  assistance  in  their 
power  toward  ferreting  out  our  headquarters. 

Wearied  by  constant  fighting,  I  and  my  men  now 
returned  to  the  neighborhood  of  our  old  camp,  leaving 
a  fresh  supply  of  Capt.  Bolin's  men  to  continue  "bush 
whacking"  the  Federals  until  they  should  return  to 
their  hive  in  Ironton. 

After  we  had  completely  routed  Capt.  John's  in* 
cendiaries  and  driven  them  from  the  country,  our  con 
dition  was  indeed  deplorable. 

Without  shelter  for  our  families  save  a  few  htits  that 
the  Federals  did  not  consider  worth  burning,  into 
each  of  which  two  or  three  families  were  huddled, 
without  bedding  or  a  change  of  clothing,  and  but  littl* 


224  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

food,  we  were  indeed  in  adverse  circumstances.  Sev 
eral  of  our  men  were  compelled  to  remain  at  head 
quarters  several  months  to  repair  damages.  Our  fam 
ilies,  in  their  crowded  condition,  became  unhealthy, 
and  several  of  the  children  died.  While  we  were  ar 
ranging  matters  for  the  comfort  and  convenience  of 
our  families,  we  obtained  our  supplies  from  the  border 
counties  of  Missouri  by  making  short  raids  ;  our  bed 
ding  and  provisions,  however,  we  obtained  in  a  great 
measure,  from  our  friends;  but  we  occasionally 
branched  out  further  to  rob  the  stores  and  houses  of 
Union  men. 

Another  great  difficulty  under  which  we  labored  was 
the  entire  absence  of  surgical  aid  for  our  wounded,  for 
the  want  of  which  many  of  our  men  who  recovered 
were  so  deformed  that  they  were  forever  afterward 
rendered  unfit  for  active  duty. 

The  whole  available  force  of  our  community  now 
only  amounted  to  eighty  available  men,  and  by  the 
time  that  we  had  rebuilt  twenty  houses  and  a  tempo 
rary  mill,  our  numbers  were  still  further  reduced  by 
desertion,  for  many  of  them  now  left  and  went  into 
Texas.  While  these  repairs  were  going  on  we  held  a 
council,  in  which  it  was  decided  that  half  our  men 
might  take  the  field  against  our  enemies  in  Missouri, 
and  make  them  pay  for  the  damage  that  "we  had  sus 
tained.  In  doing  this,  however,  we  had  no  intention 
of  applying  the  torch  to  the  dwellings  of  our  Union 
enemies;  we  were  never  mean  enough  for  that;  we 
made  no  war  upon  women  and  children;  that  kind  of 


SAMUEL  S.  HILDEBRAND.  225 

warfare  was  exclusively  used  by  our  enemies  of  boasted 
civilization,  refinement  and  magnanimity. 

I  started  to  Washington  county,  Missouri,  with  four 
teen  men  to  obtain  supplies  of  clothing  and  ammuni 
tion.  With  a  great  deal  of  caution  we  made  our  way 
up  Black  river  through  Butler  and  Eeynolds  counties, 
and  entered  Washington  county  on  her  extreme  south 
ern  line,  traveling  only  at  night,  and  concealing  our 
selves  each  day  among  the  rugged  hills  of  Black  river. 

We  visited  a  store  and  packed  several  horses  which 
we  had  taken  in  the  neighborhood,  with  shoes,  domes 
tics  and  calicoes ;  and  here  we  found  some  concealed 
ammunition,  which  we  appropriated.  On  starting  back 
we  traveled  slowly ;  not  having  heard  of  any  Federals 
in  the  neighborhood,  we  imagined  ourselves  safe,  and 
designed  traveling  in  the  day  time.  As  we  were  so 
familiar  with  all  the  roads  and  by-paths  in  this  section 
of  country,  we  generally  felt  safe  while  on  our  re 
turn  to  Arkansas,  but  on  this  occasion  we  were 
doomed  to  disappointment. 

We  had  gone  but  a  short  distance  into  Eeynolds 
county,  when  we  were  suddenly  attacked  by  a  party 
of  Federals,  numbering  perhaps  twenty  or  twenty-five  • 
they  had  trailed  us  from  the  store  we  had  robbed,  and 
now  they  came  upon  us  with  a  perfect  fury. 

Being  heavily  packed  and  encumbered  with  the 
horses  we  were  leading,  we  could  not  run  j  at  their  fire 
one  of  my  men  was  killed,  at  which  I  took  ad 
vantage  of  their  empty  guns,  wheeled  my  men  into  the 
brush,  dismounted,  and  in  an  instant  returned  their 
fire,  at  which  three  of  their  number  fell  j  I  dashed  for- 


226  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

ward  with  about  half  my  men  and  succeeded  in  gaining 
their  rear.  My  party  in  front  and  my  men  in  the  rear 
now  made  a  simultaneous  charge  upon  them  with  our 
revolvers,  killing  two  more  and  wounding  several,  in 
which  two  of  my  men  were  wounded,  but  not  mortally. 

In  the  fight  all  the  other  Federals  charged  over  us 
and  got  away,  with  the  exception  of  eight  prisoners, 
three  of  whom  were  wounded.  The  result  of  the  lit 
tle  fight  was,  five  dead  Federals,  thirteen  horses,  eigh 
teen  guns  and  ten  revolvers;  having  lost  one  man 
killed  and  two  wounded,  but  not  sufficiently  to  keep 
them  from  traveling. 

After  I  had  inspected  the  damages,  I  turned  my  at 
tention  to  the  prisoners,  who  were  dismounted,  dis 
armed  and  sitting  by  the  roadside,  under  guard.  On 
approaching  them  two  of  them  arose,  called  me  by 
name  and  asked  permission  to  shake  hands  with  me. 
After  a  short  conversation  I  found  that  they  were  two 
of  the  men  I  had  captured  on  Lost  creek,  in  Wayne 
county,  during  the  month  of  May,  1863,  whom  I  re 
leased  after  negotiating  with  them  for  the  escape  of 
two  of  Capt.  Bolin's  men  in  prison  at  Ironton.  On 
recognizing  them  I  again  gave  them  my  hand  in  reas 
surance  that  I  appreciated  the  services  they  had  ren 
dered  us  in  proving  true  to  their  word,  and  could  not 
help  telling  them  that  I  was  glad  to  see  them.  After 
the  ceremony  incident  to  the  renewal  of  our  acquaint 
ance  was  over,  I  began  making  preparations  for  con 
tinuing  our  journey  after  having  first  buried  the  dead. 

I  told  our  two  Union  friends  that  they  were  again 
released,  together  with  their  three  wounded  comrades, 


SAMUEL  S.  IIILDEBRAND.  227 

but  that  I  would  take  the  other  three  along  with  me ; 
they,  however,  plead  manfully  for  the  release  of  their 
three  friends,  but  I  told  them  that  I  was  compelled  to 
have  their  assistance  in  getting  along  with  our  stock, 
until  we  reached  Greenville,  at  which  place,  for  their 
sake,  I  would  release  them,  and  true  to  my  word,  I  did 
so. 

We  made  our  way  to  Green  county  with  as  much 
haste  as  prudence  would  permit ;  being  too  much  bur 
dened  to  " bushwhack"  any  of  those  citizens  who  had 
accompanied  Capt.  John  into  our  little  confederacy, 
we  concluded  to  let  them  rest  for  the  present;  but  hav 
ing  accidently  met  one  in  the  road,  I  shot  him  through 
the  head  and  rode  on.  We  found  all  things  cheerful 
about  headquarters,  and  soon  divided  our  goods  among 
the  needy  families. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 


CHAPTEB  XXIX. 

Took  a  raid  into  Missouri  with  four  men. — Killed  a  Federal. — 
Killed  two  of  Capt.  Milks'  men. — Started  to  DeSoto. — Routed 
by  the  Federals. — Adventure  with  a  German. — Killed  three  Fed 
erals  on  Black  river. 

In  the  latter  part  of  August,  1864,  I  selected  four 
men  and  started  after  some  of  my  old  enemies  on  Big 
river. 

At  this  period  they  had  all  disappeared  except  three 
or  four  who  still  ventured  to  call  their  old  residences 
their  homes,  but  they  stayed  most  of  their  time  around 
the  Federal  camps  anxiously  waiting  for  the  time  to 
come  when  the  Federal  authorities  would  succeed, 
either  in  killing  or  capturing  me,  when  a  new  era  of 
peace  and  quiet  would  again  bless  them  in  the  pursuit 
of  theft  and  murder. 

Those  of  the  old  mob  who  had  left  their  homes  and 
were  now  dwelling,  as  they  supposed,  in  utter  obscuri 
ty,  were  not  lost  sight  of  by  me,  for  I  kept  myself 
posted  in  regard  to  all  their  movements.  The  especial 
object  of  this  trip  was  to  penetrate  the  enemies  coun 
try  as  far  as  De  Soto,  Jefferson  county,  Missouri,  and 
surprise  a  couple  of  the  old  mob  who  now  lived  in  that 
vicinity,  and  before  the  authorities  were  aware  of  our 
unholy  presence,  to  have  our  little  mission  of  ven 
geance  completed.  On  passing  Bloomfield  it  might 
truthfully  be  said  that  we  were  within  the  Federal 


•SAMUEL  8.   IIILDEBIUNS.  229 

lines.  A  heavy  military  force  was  stationed  at  Pilot 
Knob  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  and  smaller  forces 
were  station-ed  at  the  county  seats  of  the  various 
counties  in  Southeast  Missouri;  they  were  inactive  so 
far  as  the  national  war  was  concerned,  but  amused 
themselves  by  marauding  through  the  country,  and  oc 
casionally  killing  some  unarmed  citizens,  or  indulging 
in  the  characteristics  of  Ben.  Butler, 

On  gaining  the  vicinity  of  Fredericktown,  we  ob 
tained  important  information  from  our  friends  in  that 
quarter  relative  to  the  distribution  of  the  Federal 
forces,  which  aided  us  materially  in  shaping  our  course. 
From  this  place  we  went  east  of  Mine  La  Motte,  and 
took  up  our  quarters  for  the  day  in  an  unfrequented 
part  of  the  country,  about  three  miles  south  of  the 
Cross  Roads,  in  St,  Francois  county,  where  we  re* 
mained  unmolested  until  in  the  evening,  when  we  dis 
covered  a  man  in  Federal  uniform  tracking  our  horses 
slowly  across  an  adjoining  ridge.  We  felt  very  sorry 
for  him  in  his  lonely  condition;  I  went  down  the  hill 
a  little  distance  toward  him,  and  when  he  came  within 
a  hundred  yards  of  me,  and  commenced  making  his 
circuit  toward  our  camp  I  turned  old  "Kill-devil" 
loose  upon  him;  but  owing  to  his  stooping  posture  as 
he  was  looking  for  tracks  I  shot  him  too  low  and  broke 
him  down  in  the  back.  He  set  up  a  hideous  yelling, 
which  was  very  annoying  to  us  just  at  this  time;  so  I 
hastened  to  his  relief,  and  soon  dispatched  him  with 
my  revolver.  Being  a  little  fearful  that  we  had  at 
tracted  the  attention  of  the  people  in  the  neighbor 
hood,  and  that  perhaps  a  Union  forci?  was  on  our  track 


230  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

of  which  the  lone  Federal  might  have  been  one  of  the 
number,  we  concluded  to  move.  Directing  our  way 
through  the  most  thickly  wooded  parts  of  the  country 
during  the  balance  of  the  day,  we  reached  Wolf  creek 
about  midnight  at  the  plank  road  leading  from  Farm- 
ington  to  Ste.  Genevieve. 

Feeling  much  fatigued,  and  having  lost  much  sleep, 
we  decided  on  camping  until  the  follo'wing  night,  hav 
ing  with  us  a  sufficiency  of  provisions  and  horse  feed. 
We  slept  soundly  until  daylight,  and  then  did  picket 
duty  by  turns  until  late  in  the  evening,  when  I  dis 
covered  two  Federal  soldiers  in  the  valley  below  us, 
going  toward  Farmington.  I  at  once  took  my  position 
with  one  of  my  men,  and  as  they  came  up  talking  very 
merrily,  we  surprised  them  by  presenting  our  pistols 
in  a  few  feet  of  their  faces  and  demanding  a  surrender, 
at  which  they  seemed  somewhat  alarmed  but  made  no 
resistance. 

After  dismounting  and  disarming  them  we  took  them 
to  our  quiet  nook  in  the  woods,  and  upon  inquiry  we 
found  that  they  belonged  to  a  company  at  Ste.  Gene- 
vieve  under  Capt.  Milks. 

We  felt  very  much  rejoiced  at  getting  two  of  this 
company  who  had  formerly  been  stationed  at  Farm 
ington,  and  after  harrassing  and  robbing  the  peaceable 
citizens  in  that  community  for  several  months  they 
were  removed  to  Ste.  Genevieve. 

On  one  of  their  scouts  through  the  country  they  ar 
rested  Charles  Burks,  county  judge  of  Ste.  Genevieve 
for  compelling  the  Provost  Marshal  to  deliver  up  some 
horses  belonging  to  the  judge  whom  the  marshal  had 


SAMUEL  S.  HILDEBRAND.  231 

unjustly  seized.  The  old  man  was  taken  a  few  miles 
after  his  arrest  by  Milks'  men  and  shot  without  any 
questions  being  asked,  and  without  even  a  charge  of 
disloyalty  ever  having  been  brought  against  him.  On 
another  occasion  they  arrested  Irvin  M.  Haile,  one  of 
the  most  peaceable  men  in  St.  Francois  county,  under 
a  charge  made  by  some  sneaking  informer,  that  on  one 
occasion  he  had  fed  me  and  my  men.  This  was  the 
whole  of  the  accusation  brought  against  him.  He  was 
allowed  no  trial,  no  defense ;  but  two  inhuman  mon 
sters  took  him  a  few  miles,  shot  him  through  the  head, 
then  taking  his  horse  they  left  his  body  in  the  woods, 
where  it  was  afterwards  found. 

The  recollection  of  these  and  some  other  acts  of 
atrocity  committed  by  that  company  sealed  the  fate  of 
my  two  prisoners;  in  the  name  of  justice  and  human 
ity  I  shot  them  both  through  the  head  with  my  re 
volver,  and  ordered  my  men  to  cast  them  in  a  deep 
hole  of  water  in  Wolf  creek,  with  stones  tied  to  their 
feet. 

As  soon  as  it  was  dark  we  went  to  the  house  of  a 
friend  to  get  some  feed  for  ourselves  and  horses,  but 
on  arriving  there  we  saw  a  party  of  perhaps  twenty 
persons  who  were  just  mounting  their  horses  in  front 
of  the  gate,  and  in  a  few  minutes  they  rode  off  and 
were  lost  to  us  in  the  dim  starlight.  We  approached 
the  house  cautiously,  but  found  no  one  there  except 
the  kind  lady  who  told  us  that  the  cause  of  the  excite 
ment  was  that  "Sam  Hildobrand  was  supposed  to  be  in 
country;"  that  some  soldiers  from  Fredericktown  had 
come  up  alid  stated  positively  that  my  trail  had  been  fol- 


232  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

lowed  in  that  direction,  and  that  the  citizens  were  or 
dered  out  to  assist  in  the  search. 

After  getting  something  to  eat  and  feed  for  our 
horses  we  started  on,  and  by  daylight  the  next  morn 
ing  we  were  safely  housed  in  a  cave  among  the  Pike 
Run  hills,  in  the  northern  part  of  St.  Francois  county. 

Here  we  remained  but  one  day ;  as  soon  as  darkness 
approached  we  proceeded  on  into  Jefferson  county  un 
til  ten  o'clock,  when  we  stopped  at  the  house  of  a 
friend  who  gave  us  our  suppers  and  treated  us  so  well 
that  the  night  was  half  spent  before  we  started  on. 
Our  friend  warned  us  very  pressingly  against  going 
any  further  in  the  direction  of  De  Soto,  but  we  deter 
mined  not  to  retreat  until  real  danger  was  apparent. 
But  unfortunately  we  had  consumed  too  much  time,  and 
did  not  reach  the  part  of  the  country  where  we  de 
signed  taking  up  quarters  for  the  day,  and  while  mak 
ing  a  forced  march  between  daylight  and  sunrise  on  an 
old  unfrequented  road  near  the  top  of  a  ridge  where 
we  designed  taking  up  quarters,  we  suddenly  ran  into 
a  company  of  Federal  soldiers  who  were  coming  to 
ward  us. 

They  charged  us  on  sight  and  in  good  earnest,  firing 
a  volley  at  us,  but  we  miraculously  escaped  unhurt,  but 
several  of  us  carried  off  some  respectable  holes  in  our 
clothing.  Their  charge  was  really  furious,  and  caused 
us  to  scatter  in  every  direction,  and  after  a  hasty  and 
precipitate  retreat  of  perhaps  a  mile  and  a  half,  I  ven 
tured  to  stop  and  take  a  look  at  my  surroundings ;  the 
last  fifteen  minutes  of  my  life  passed  off  in  such  a 
"whiz"  that  I  hardly  knew  where  I  was/ and  I  was 


SAMUEL   8.   HILDEBRAND.  283 

very  certain  that  I  did  not  know  where  my  men  were; 
but  I  felt  very  well  over  the  fact  that  there  were  no 
Federal  soldiers  in  sight. 

I  was  not  long  in  planning  my  course ;  a  place  had 
been  designated  by  me  in  the  Pike  Run  hills  for  us  to 
meet  in  an  emergency  of  this  kind,  and  I  struck 
out  for  the  spot,  traveling  very  cautiously  and  keeping 
in  the  thickest  timbered  country  all  the  time. 

Arriving  at  the  place  late  in  the  evening,  I  found 
one  of  my  men  who  had  gained  the  spot  a  short 
time  before  me.  Here  we  remained  waiting  in  anx 
ious  suspense  until  after  dark,  and  had  almost  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  other  men  had  been  cap 
tured  or  killed  when  they  came  up.  They  had  got  to 
gether  soon  after  the  stampede,  and  not  being  very 
well  acquainted  with  the  country  they  had  been  lost, 
and  when  night  overtook  •  them  they  pressed  a  pilot 
into  their  service  whom  they  discovered  passing  along 
the  road,  and  compelled  him  to  accompany  them  to 
the  place.  The  pilot  I  knew  very  well,  and  after  de 
ceiving  him  in  regard  to  the  course  we  designed  tak 
ing,  we  released  him  under  the  promise  that  he  would 
not  report  us. 

As  we  were  now  destined  to  be  hunted  down  like 
the  wild  beasts  of  the  forest,  we  resolved  to  get  out  of 
the  country  as  quick  as  possible  and  over  some  country 
not  traveled  by  us  heretofore.  "We  started  in  a  west- 
wardly  direction,  and  after  traveling  a  few  miles  stop 
ped  at  the  house  of  a  friend  for  our  suppers. 

Crossing  the  Iron  Mountain  railroad  south  of  Black- 
well's  Station,  we  gained  the  vicinity  of  the  Old  Mines, 


284  ATJTOBIOGHAPHT  OF 

in  Washington  county,  before  it  was  yet  light, 
we  took  up  quarters  for  the  day.  One  of  my  men  being 
acquainted  in  the  neighborhood,  we  had  1*0  trouble 
in  getting  our  necessary  provisions  and  horse  feed. 

While  we  made  our  brief  sojourn  in  this  locality  an 
incident  worth  relating  occurred,  which  was  very  amus 
ing  to  us,  and  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  the  reader. 
About  ten  o'clock  in  the  forenoon,  while  it  was  my 
turn  to  stand  orr  picket  I  sauntered  through  the  thick 
fcrush  down  to  the  main  road,  distant  about  two  hun 
dred  yards,  and  suddenly  ran  on  to- a  German  who  was 
sitting  near  the  road  side,  sheltered  from  the  sun  by 
aome  brush.  I  discovered  him  before  he  saw  me.  He 
held  in  his  hancJ  an  old  double-barreled  shot  gun.  As 
he  had  on  an  old  suit  o-f  Federal  uniform,  my  first  im 
pulse  was  to  draw  my  revolver,  which  I  did  in  an  in 
stant.  As  soon  as  the  German  saw  me  he  sprang  to 
his  feet,  let  his  old  gun  fall  to  the  ground  and  threw 
np  his  hands.  Seeing  that  I  was  dressed  in  Federal  uni 
form,  he  immediately  cried  out  that  he  was  «  all  right/* 
and  began  in  a  hurried,  broken  gibberish  to  give  an 
account  of  himself;  that  he  was  from  De  Soto,  and  was 
going  to  a  saw  mill  west  of  Potosi;  that  he  was  a  dis 
charged  Union  soldier;  that  Sam  Hildebrand  was  in 
the  country  about  De  Soto,  and  that  he  was  afraid  to 
stay  there  on  that  account.  At  this  I  advanced  toward 
him  and  extended  my  hand,  saying-  as  I  did  so  that  I 
was  really  a  little  frightened,  that  I  thought  he  was 
Sam  Hildebrand  himself  when  I  first  saw  him ;  that  I 
•would  not  hurt  him  if  he  was  a  Union  man,  but  that  I 
eame  very  near  shooting  him  under  the  mistaken  idea 


SAMUEL  S.   HILDEBRASTD.  285 

that  lie  was  Hildebrand.  He  laughed  heartily  at  the 
coincident  and  was  quite  merry  over  the  happy  turn 
that  the  affair  had  taken. 

I  told  him  that  I  had  some  men  stationed  back  in 
the  woods  on  one  of  Hildebrand's  old  trails,  and  that 
foe  could  go  with  me  and  form  one  of  my  party  for  the 
day,  to  which  he  gladly  consented,  manifesting  a  great 
•deal  of  gratitude.  As  we  made  our  way  cautiously  to 
the  camp  through  the  thick  brush  I  told  him  that  he 
was  running  a  great  risk  in  traveling  through  that 
portion  of  country,  for  it  was  one  of  Hildebrand's 
main  passways. 

On  coming  up  to  the  boys  in  camp  he  did  not  wait 
for  an  introduction,  but  stepped  in  ahead  of  me  and 
shook  hands  with  them  all  in  the  greatest  glee,  telling 
as  he  did  so  a  great  many  things  he  knew  about  "Sam 
Hildebrand," 

The  boys  seemed  to  understand  the  matter  perfectly 
well  without  any  explanations  from  me,  and  humored 
the  joke  very  well  by  asking  the  most  absurd  ques 
tions  about  my  barbarity;  but  none  of  the  questions 
were  too  hard,  for  he  answered  them  all,  making  it  ap 
pear  that  I  was  a  blood-thirsty  barbarian,  without  an 
equal  in  the  world's  history. 

It  was  not  until  sometime  during  the  afternoon  that 
we  undeceived  him  in  regard  to  the  true  nature  of 
things  j  it  was  sometime  before  he  could  comprehend 
the  sudden  change,  or  be  made  to  believe  that  he  was 
really  in  my  hands.  But  as  he  gradually  became  con 
vinced  of  the  fact  he  began  a  series  of  lies  that  would 
shamed  u  Baron  Muncha-usen"  himself,  We 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

stopped  him, short,  however,  and  told  him  that  if  he 
would  not  report  us  for  one  month  we  would  let  him 
go,  at  which  he  sprang  at  me,  seizing  my  hand  with 
both  of  his,  he  pledged  himself  and  swore  by  all  that 
was  holy  and  righteous  that  he  never  would  report  us 
while  he  lived.  He  shook  hands  with  us  all  and 
started,  looking  hack  every  ten  feet  until  he  was  out 
of  sight,  then  he  seemed  to  double  his  speed  until  he 
was  out  of  hearing. 

While  the  sun  was  yet  an  hour  high  we  started  on 
our  way,  keeping  in  the  woods  until  dark,  then  pass 
ing  west  of  Potosi,  by  traveling  all  night,  we  reached 
a  point  near  the  town  of  Centreville,  in  Reynolds 
county,  where  we  obtained  feed  for  ourselves  and 
horses. 

In  traveling  down  Black  river  late  on©  evening  we 
ran  into  a  squad  of  Federals,  six  in  number,  whom  we 
charged  in  a  furious  manner,  firing  on  them  with  our 
revolvers.  They  did  not  return  our  fire,  but  ran  most 
gloriously.  We  killed  one  and  captured  two  more; 
those  we  captured  stated  that  they  belonged  to  Leeper's 
command;  this  being  the  case  of  course  we  shot  them. 

We  took  their  horses  and  arms,  made  another 
night's  journey,  and  arrived  safely  in  Green  county, 
Arkansas.  There  1  found  a  dispatch  for  me  from  Gen. 
Sterling  Price,  requesting  me  to  take  charge  of  the 
advance  guard  of  his  army,  as  he  was  "going  up  to 
possess  Missouri,"  to  which  I  most  gladly  cor  sen  ted  on 
conditions  that  I  would  be;  released  as  |  soon  as  we 
should  reach  the  vicinity  of  my  old  home  on  B*g  river. 


SAMUEL  S.   HILDEBRAND.  237 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

Commanded  the  advance  guard  in  Price's  raid. — The  Federals  burn 
Doniphan. — Routed  them  completely. — Captured  some  at  Patter 
son. — Killed  Abright  at  Farmington. — Left  Price's  army. — 
Killed  four  Federals. — Maj.  Montgomery  storms  Big  River 
Mills. — Narrow  escape  from  capture. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  give  a  history  of  Price's 
raid  into  Missouri  farther  than  to  narrate  a  few  facts 
connected  with  my  own  operations. 

In  September,  1864,  by  request,  I  took  charge  of 
the  advance  guard  after  all  arrangements  were  made 
for  the  grand  campaign.  The  dispatch  that  came  to 
me,  having  stated  that  General  Price  designed  tak 
ing  Missouri  and  holding  it,  I  felt  that  a  great  honor 
was  conferred  upon  me,  and  was  pleased  beyond 
measure  with  the  prospect  of  being  once  more 
enabled  to  triumph  over  my  enemies  and  to  peacea 
bly  establish  myself  at  the  home  of  my  childhood, 
among  the  blissful  scenes  of  my  earlier  years. 

While  these  day-dreams  were  passing  through  my 
excited  imagination,  I  repaired  to  the  designated 
point  and  found  that  my  command  consisted  of  a 
party  of  ragged  Missourians,  about  forty  in  number) 
some  of  whom  I  knew.  Keeping  pace  with  the  main 
body  of  the  army,  we  traveled  not  more  than  fifteen 
miles  each  day.  Nothing  of  importance  occurred 
until  we  reached  the  town  of  Doniphan  in  liipley 
county,  Missouri ;  when,  on  approaching  the  place, 


238  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

we  discovered  large  volumes  of  smoke  arising  from 
the  town.  We  put  spurs  to  our  horses  and  hastened 
into  the  place  as  soon  as  possible ;  finding  that  the 
Federals  in  evacuating  the  place,  had  set  fire  to 
every  house  but  one,  and  that  belonged  to  a  Federal 
officer,  we  concluded  that  it  had  better  burn  also 
We  arrived  in  time  to  save  the  mill  which  seemed 
to  have  burned  very  slowly.  It  appears  that 
McNeal's  and  Leeper's  men  were  on  their  way  to 
burn  up  our  Green  County  Confederacy,  but  ascer 
taining  that  Price  was  on  his  march  for  Missouri 
they  set  fire  to  the  town  and  decamped.  We  pur 
sued  and  overtook  them  before  they  got  to  Green 
ville,  had  a  little  skirmish,  lost  two  men  killed  and 
four  wounded,  captured  sixteen  Federals  and  shot 
them,  rushed  on  to  the  town  of  Patterson,  captured 
eleven  negroes  and  seven  white  men  in  Federal  uni 
form  and  shot  them.  While  the  main  army  ad 
vanced  slowly  I  scouted  in  front  of  it  with  my  com 
mand  ;  but  Federals  and  Union  men  were  very 
scarce ;  I  still  held  the  advance  however,  passing 
through  Greenville,  Bloomfield,  Fredericktown  and 
Farmington;  all  of  which  were  evacuated  before 
our  arrival,  and  through  which  I  passed  with  my 
force  without  molesting  any  one  with  one  exception- 
On  reaching  Farmington  no  resistance  was  offered  ' 
the  people  were  somewhat  alarmed,  but  all  surren 
dered  quietly  except  a  German,  named  Abright, 
who  ran  when  we  approached,  refused  to  halt,  and 
was  shot  of  course. 
Finally,  reaching  the  Iron  Mountain  Railroad  at 


.     SAMUEL  S.  HILDEBRAND.  239 

Mineral  Point,  we  tore  up  the  road,  burned  several 
bridges,  and  tore  down  the  telegraph ;  but  finding 
no  one  to  kill,  I  left  the  command,  according  to  pre 
vious  agreement,  and  hastened  to  the  neighborhood 
of  my  personal  enemies.  Finding  none  of  them 
there  to  kill  I  employed  myself  in  recruiting  for  the 
Southern  army,  and  succeeded  in  the  short  space  of 
six  days  in  getting  a  full  company,  who  were  sworn 
in,  and  under  Capt.  Holmes  went  into  the  Southern 
service.  While  laboring  for  the  cause  of  the  South 
I  was  at  the  residence  of  Maj.  Dick  Berryman  at  the 
stone  house  in  Bogy's  Lead  Mines,  near  Big  river, 
with  a  portion  of  Capt.  Holmes'  men,  when  four 
Federals  who  had  escaped  from  the  fort  at  Ironton 
during  the  siege,  came  along  the  road  ;  with  but  lit 
tle  difficulty  we  effected  their  capture,  shot  them 
and  threw  their  bodies  into  a  mineral  hole. 

The  main  army  did  not  remain  long  in  our  section 
of  country ;  Gen.  Price  indeed  was  a  great  military 
chieftain,  but  his  present  campaign  through  Mis 
souri  seemed  to  lack  design ;  from  the  time  he  en 
tered  the  State  until  he  left  it,  he  garrisoned  no 
posts  in  the  rear.  Pilot  Knob,  the  terminus  of  the 
railroad  from  St.  Louis  and  the  depot  for  supplies 
for  all  Southeast  Missouri  was  taken,  and  then 
abandoned  on  the  next  day;  he  made  his  way  to 
Missouri  river  and  then  up  that  stream  in  the  direc 
tion  of  Kansas  for  several  hundred  miles  without 
molestation  leaving  St.  Louis,  the  great  commer 
cial  key  of  the  West,  almost  "spoiling  to  be 
taken."  The  great  Missouri  chieftain  left  St.  Louig 


240  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

to  his  right,  while  the  heavy  force  at  that  place 
were  quietly  taking  possession  of  the  abandoned 
posts  in  his  rear,  If  he  had  joined  the  "Indepen 
dent  Bushwhacking  Department  of  the  Confederate 
States  of  America"  with  all  his  men,  in  less  than 
thirty  days  there  would  not  have  been  a  Federal 
soldier  west  of  the  Mississippi.  While  Maj.  Berry, 
man  and  a  few  other  officers  stayed  in  St.  Francois 
county  recruiting,  the  main  army  gained  the 
Missouri  river  and  was  quietly  making  a  blind 
march  in  the  direction^of  Idaho. 

The  Federal  forces  took  possession  of  the  Iron 
Mountain  railroad,  and  on  one  pleasant  afternoon 
in  October,  our  new  recruits  armed  with  their  shot 
guns  and  squirrel  rifles  were  run  into  by  Maj.  Mont 
gomery  of  the  Sixth  Missouri  Cavalry  and  complete 
ly  routed,  in  which  their  loss  was  seven  killed  and 
all  the  balance  missing.  Montgomery  also  killed 
several  citizens,  whose  names  were  Fite,  Yandover, 
and  Judge  Haile,  the  father  of  Irvine  M.  Haile,  who 
was  previously  murdered  by  Milks'  men. 

On  the  day  before  Maj.  Montgomery  routed  the 
new  recruits  at  Big  River  Mills,  1  went  with  some 
men  to  Cadet  on  the  railroad  and  took  from  the 
store  of  Mr.  Kellerman  a  wagon  load  of  goods  which 
I  delivered  up  to  Maj.  Berryman,  who  distributed 
them  among  his  men.  Maj.  Montgomery,  with  two 
companies  of  the  Sixth  Missouri  Cavalry,  struck  our 
trail  and  followed  us  nearly  into  camp ;  but  when 
he  ran  into  the  pickets  they  obeyed  the  orders  I 
had  previously  given,  and  ran  in  a  different  direction 


SAMUEL  8.  HILBBBRAND.  241 

from  the  camp,  thereby  leading  the  Federals  away 
from   our  squad  of  raw  recruits,  and  giving  them 
time  to  escape.    I  was  not  at  Big  River  Mills  when 
Montgomery  stormed  the  place,  but  was  at  St.  Jo 
seph  Lead  Mines,  when  he  passed.     I  was  sitting  on 
my  horse  talking  to  a  lady,  when  the  first  thing  that 
I  saw  of  them  they  were  within  a  few  yards  of  me  ; 
I  assumed  an  air  of  unconcern  and  continued  the 
conversation  ;  on  discovering  that  they  were  eyeing 
me  very  closely,  I  turned  my  horse  and  rode  within 
a  few  feet  of  the  column  in  the  direction  they  were 
going,  talking  back  to  the  lady  until  I  was  too  far  off 
to  continue  the  conversation.    I  then  found  myself 
near  a  lieutenant  whom  I  addressed  as  captain,  ask 
ing  him  in  a  very  awkward  manner  if  he  was  going 
to  Big  River  Mills  to  drive  the  Rebels  off,  which  he 
answered  in  the  affirmative.    I  told  him  that  I  would 
like   to  help  if  I  had  a  gun,  but  he  told  me  very 
curtly  that  he  wanted  no  men  who  were  not  drilled. 
My  horse  seemed  to  be  a  little  lame  and  I  gradually 
fell  back,  talking  all  the  time  to  the  man  opposite 
me   until  the  last  one  had  passed.    I  kicked  and 
"cussed"  my  horse  to  try  to  keep  up  but  I  could  not 
do  it.    On  getting  about  one  hundred  yards  behind 
I  availed  myself  of  an  opportunity  at  a  turn  in  the 
road  and  took  to  the  woods ;  the  lameness   of  my 
horse  was  very  much  improved,  but  I  could  not  beat 
them  into  the  town;  however,!  knew  that  the  pick 
ets  would  lead  them  off  some  other  way.    They  did 
so,  but  were  overtaken  and  killed  at  the  ford  above 
the  mill  pond. 
11 


242  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

The  new  recruits  were  within  hearing  of  the  guns 
and  "broke  for  tall  timber."  The  short  sojourn  of 
the  Confederate  forces  in  Missouri  was  indeed  a 
severe  blow  to  the  course  I  had  marked  out  for 
myself.  In  my  excited  imagination  I  had  raised  the 
veil  and  looked  down  the  vista  of  time,  beheld  the 
Southern  arms  triumphant,  our  country  again  re 
stored  to  peace  and  prosperity,  and  my  little  family 
and  my  aged  mother  leaning  upon  my  arm  for  sup 
port  at  the  old  homestead,  surrounded  by  all  the 
endearments  of  our  once  happy  days.  But  I  was 
awakened  from  my  dream  by  the  unhappy  termina 
tion  of  Price's  raid;  it  impressed  my  mind  very 
forcibly  with  the  fact  that  the  people  of  Missouri 
were  tired  of  the  war  and  would  sacrifice  but  little 
more  at  the  shrine  of  their  political  convictions.  In 
fact  a  large  majority  of  them  were  compelled  by 
circumstances  beyond  their  control  to  remain  at 
home  and  take  their  chances.  The  atrocities  com 
mitted  in  their  midst  by  men  professing  Union  sen 
timents  finally  failed  to  elicit  from  them  a  casual 
remark. 

When  the  war  began,  the  American  people  were 
untutored  in  regard  to  the  cruelties  of  war;  in  fact, 
I  am  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  there  was  not  a 
nation  upon  earth  which  had  formed  the  most  re 
mote  conception  of  the  cruelties  of  the  American 
people,  with  all  their  boasted  moral  and  religious 
training.  Even  the  words  of  political  bias  expressed 
in  times  of  peace,  many  years  before  the  war  com 
menced,  while  yet  almost  the  whole  nation  was  of 


SAMUEL  S.  H1LDEBRAN1X  248 

the  same  opinion,  were  treasured  up  and  resurrec 
ted  against  certain  citizens,  for  which  their  lives 
were  taken. 

From  a  contemplation  of  this  unwelcome  eubject 
I  turned  my  mind,  and  through  my  native  woods  1 
traveled  alone  to  my  home  in  Arkansas,  with  my 
fond  hopes  crushed,  and  my  spirits  below  zero. 


244  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

Selected  three  men  and  went  to  Missouri  to  avenge  the  death  of 
Rev.  William  Polk. — Got  ammunition  in  Fredericktown. — Killed 
the  German  who  informed  on  Polk. — Returned  to  Arkansas. 

After  recruiting  our  horses  and  making  all  neces 
sary  arrangements  for  the  comfort  and  convenience 
of  my  family  in  my  absence,  I  selected  three  men 
and  started  to  Madison  county,  Missouri,  for  the  ex 
press  purpose  of  killing  the  German  who  reported 
on  preacher  Polk,  and  by  whose  instigation  his  mur 
der,  by  the  Union  soldiers,  had  been  brought  about. 

That  venerable  Baptist  minister,  William  Polk, 
was  about  seventy  years  of  age,  and  had  been 
preaching  for  about  forty  years.  As  a  Christian  of 
unquestionable  piety  no  man  ever  stood  higher;  as 
a  citizen  his  conduct  was  irreproachable,  and  as  to 
his  loyalty  and  patriotism  it  never  before  was 
brought  into  question.  From  his  lips  no  word  had 
ever  dropped  that  could  be  construed  into  an  ex 
pression  of  sympathy  for  the  Southern  rebellion. 

In  the  latter  part  of  October,  1864,  three  Federal 
soldiers  rode  up  to  his  house  to  rob  him  first  and 
then  kill  him. 

They  demanded  his  money  which  he  gave  up, 
amounting  to  twenty  dollars,  he  told  them  that  he 
had  no  more,  at  which  they  replied  that  twenty  dol 
lars  was  not  enough  to  save  his  life. 


SAMUEL   S.   HILDEBRA5B.  245 

They  took  him  out  of  the  yard,  when  a  Federal 
soldier  by  the  name  of  Robert  Manning  shot  him 
through  the  head. 

Believing  that  the  German  informer  was  the  most 
guilty  one  in  this  transaction,  I  was  willing  to  at 
tempt  his  capture  even  at  this  inclement  season  of 
the  year. 

Camping  out  in  the  woods  was  disagreeable; 
stopping  at  the  houses  of  our  friends  at  night  was 
extremely  dangerous;  and  if  a  snow  should  happen 
to  fall,  thereby  exposing  our  trail  to  the  Federals 
we  would  be  under  the  necessity  of  running  a  horse 
race  for  nearly  two  hundred  miles. 

On  reaching  the  St.  Francis  we  found  it  consider 
ably  swollen  from  recent  rains  higher  up  the  river. 
I  proceeded  at  once  to  swim  it,  and  arrived  safely 
at  the  opposite  bank,  but  my  three  men  having  en 
tered  the  river  too  near  together  their  horses 
crowded  each  other,  which  caused  them  to  beat 
down  with  the  current  until  one  of  my  men  named 
Swan  washed  into  a  drift  and  carne  near  being 
drowned  before  I  could  pull  off  my  coat  and  boots 
and  swim  to  his  rescue.  I  got  to  him  in  time  to  pulJ 
him  out  on  to  a  drift,  but  his  horse  washed  under  it 
and  we  saw  him  no  more. 

After  we  had  all  got  over  we  built  a  fire,  dried 
our  clothes  and  camped  for  the  night. 

Swan  did  not  feel  well  the  next  morning,  so  he 
concluded  to  make  an  effort  to  get  back  to  head 
quarters,  while  we  proceeded  on  with  our  journey, 


246  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 


traveling  only  twenty  or  twenty-five  miles  per  day, 
stopping  with  our  friends  on  the  way. 

On  reaching  Madison  county  we  began  to  look  out 
for  Federal  squads,  as  there  were  two  or  three  hun 
dred  troops  quartered  in  Fredericktown.    My  am 
munition   was   getting  very  scarce   and  I  felt  as 
though  I  would  be  compelled  to  stop  and  see  my 
old  friends  in  town.    We  secreted  ourselves  and 
horses  about  a  mile  from  the  place,  and  as  daylight 
was  near  at  hand  we  had  to  lay  over  for  the  day  ; 
on  the  following  night  I  made  my  way  cautiously, 
and  crawled  into  an  alley  near  the  residence  of  my 
friend,  when  a  dog  espied  me  and  tried  to  make  me 
retreat;  I  tried  to  negotiate  with  him,  offering  him 
as  I  thought  everything  that  was  fair,  but  all  to  no 
purpose.    About  ten  o'clock,  all  things  being  favor 
able,  I  went  around  to  the  opposite  side  of  town  and 
started  in  through  an  open  street,  walking  leisurely, 
but  kesping  near  the  buildings.    When  I  had  got 
fairly  into  town  I  came  suddenly  on  a  Federal  picket 
at  the  corner  of  a  block,  who  accosted  me  by  in 
quiring  :  "  Where  are  you  going,  Bill  ?  "    I  answered 
in  a  whisper  "after  some  whisky  ;"  "all  right"  said 
he,  "bring  a  fellow  a  snort."    By  this  time  I  was  out 
of  whispering  distance,  and  soon  came  to  a  large 
saloon  on  the  corner,  passed  around  to  the  other 
side  which  was  closed  up,  and  amused  myself  seve 
ral  minutes  in  looking  in  at  the  window.     I  saw 
quite  a  number  of  the  Federals,  some  playing  cards, 
some  amusing  themselves  in  various  ways,  and  all 
of  them  seemed  to  be  enjoying  themselves  very 


8AMUEL  S.   HILDEBRAND.  247 

well.  I  made  my  way  to  the  house  of  my  friend, 
climbed  over  the  plank  fence,  and  gave  a  peculiar 
wrap  at  the  back  door  which  was  well  understood. 
I  got  a  lunch,  some  good  brandy,  plenty  of  ammuni 
tion,  rations  to  last  two  days,  and  some  very  impor 
tant  information.  I  went  out  through  the  alleys  as 
a  matter  of  choice,  the  smaller  dogs  being  posted  in 
thei  alleys  and  the  larger  ones  in  the  streets.  As 
the  night  was  half  spent  we  went  into  the  neighbor 
hood  of  Mr.  O'Banyon  and  camped  in  the  woods  un 
til  the  next  evening,  when  we  made  our  way  over  to 
the  German's  who  was  accused  of  laying  the  plot 
for  the  murder  of  Elder  Polk. 

Dressed  in  Federal  uniform,  we  rode  up  to  his 
house  as  the  sun  was  going  down,  were  taken  for 
Federal  soldiers  and  received  with  a  great  deal  of 
cordiality.  We  had  talked  to  him  but  a  short  time 
when  the  subject  of  uPreacher.  Polk"  was  intro 
duced.  The  German  in  a  boastful  manner  gave  us 
the  history  of  his  transactions  in  the  matter,  fully 
confirming  his  complicity  in  the  murder.  We 
marched  him  off  into  the  woods  near  the  farm  of 
Mr.  North,  where  I  talked  all  the  Dutch  language 
to  him  that  I  knew,  and  after  giving  him  distinctly 
to  understand  that  "hog  killing  time"  had  come,  I 
shot  him. 

As  soon  as  it  was  dark  we  rode  back  to  the  sub 
urbs  oi  Fredericktown  for  the  purpose  of  silencing 
a  Union  citizen  of  that  place  who  had  made  himself 
rather  officious  in  reporting  citizens  for  disloyalty, 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

and  for  accusing  certain  ones  of  having  fed  "Sam 
Hildebrand." 

I  left  one  of  my  men  with  the  horses,  and  taking 
the  other,  I  went  into  town  and  knocked  at  the  door, 
our  call  was  answered  by  a  lady  who  innocently 
told  us  that  the  man  for  whom  we  inquired  had  gone 
to  St.  Louis,  at  which  we  politely  bid  her  good  night 
and  left  the  town.  We  hurried  on  to  Castor  creek  to 
the  house  of  a  friend  whose  hospitalities  we  enjoyed 
for  several  days,  while  we  were  endeavoring  by 
every  means  in  our  power  to  take  in  a  certain  man 
who  lived  in  that  neighborhood;  but  the  excite 
ment  we  had  raised  by  squelching  the  German  ren 
dered  our  intended  victim  very  shy.  Finally  we 
went  to  his  house  just  after  dark  one  night  and 
called  for  him,  but  his  wife  declared  that  he  was  not 
at  home.  We  made  a  diligent  search  through  every 
room,  but  not  finding  him  we  started  for  Cape  Gir- 
ardeau  county  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  some 
supplies  for  the  winter.  We  succeeded  in  getting 
all  that  we  could  conveniently  pack,  and  started  for 
Arkansas.  We  saw  but  one  squad  of  Federals  on 
our  homeward  trip ;  we  were  passing  through  Stod- 
dard  county,  east  of  Bloomfie.ld,  when  a  party  of 
about  ten  came  up  behind  us,  but  they  fired  upon 
us  before  they  got  near  enough  to  do  any  harm, 
and  by  taking  to  the  woods  we  made  our  escape. 
They  might  easily  have  compelled  us  to  throw  away 
our  goods  to  facilitate  our  flight,  if  they  had  felt 
disposed  to  continue  the  pursuit.  As  it  was  they 
never  got  in  sight  of  us  any  more,  and  although  our 


SAMUflL  S.   MILDEBRAND. 

horses  were  much  jaded  we  made  very  good  time 
until  dark  and  then  proceeded  on  more  slowly. 
We  swam  the  St.  Francis  without  much  trouble  and 
landed  home  safely. 

I  found  my  wife  and  children  well,  but  Mr.  Swan, 
whom  I  had  rescued  from  the  turbid  waters  of  the 
St.  Francis  had  sickened  and  died  during  our  ab 
sence,  and  had  been  buried  a  few  hours  before  our 
arrival. 


250  AUTOBIOeRAFHT   OF 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

Started  with  eight  men  on  a  trip  to  Arkansas  river. — Hung  a 
"Scallawag"  on  White  rive) — Went  into  Conway  county. — 
Treachery  of  a  negro  on  Point  Remove. — "Foot  burning"  atro 
cities. — Started  back  and  hung  a  renegade. 

During  the  early  part  of  the  winter  of  1864,  sev 
eral  persons  from  the  vicinity  of  Levvisburg,  Arkan 
sas,  came  to  our  Headquarters  and  reported  trouble 
with  the  negroes  and  scallawags  in  that  part  of  the 
State. 

Lewisburgis  a  small  town  on  the  north  side  of  the 
Arkansas  river,  about  fifty  miles  above  Little  Rock ; 
the  country  around  this  place  is  very  fertile,  and  be 
fore  the  war,  was  inhabited  by  a  wealthy  class  of 
farmers  of  the  highest  cast  of  honor  and  intelli 
gence,  the  most  of  whom  owned  a  large  number  of 
slaves.  It  seems  that  as  soon  as  the  ordinance 
emancipating  the  slaves  was  enforced  in  that  part 
of  the  country,  several  scallawags  from  the  free 
States,  slipped  in  among  the  negroes,  whose  especial 
duty  seemed  to  be  to  incite  the  negroes  to  deeds  of 
villainy. 

About  Lewisburg  they  seemed  to  have  been  very 
successful  in  their  mission  as  insurrectionists,  and 
the  continued  reports  from  that  quarter  convinced 
us  that  a  short  campaign  among  them  during  the 
winter  might  be  beneficial.  In  January,  1865,  I 


SAMUEL   fi.   HILDEBRANP.  251 

started  with  eight  men,  we  passed  through  Law 
rence  and  Independence  counties,  and  on  reaching 
the  beautiful  country  bordering  on  White  river, 
which  had  been  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation  before 
the  war,  but  now  sadly  neglected,  we  approached 
near  the  town  of  Batesville,  when  we  learned  that 
two  or  three  of  the  very  animals  we  were  hunting 
for  were  in  that  "  neck  of  the  woods."  I  left  six  of 
my  men  with  our  horses  in  a  dense  thicket,  and 
three  of  us  started  out  separately  to  visit  the  negro 
cabins. 

I  had  not  proceeded  far  before  I  entered  a  dirty 
cabin  of  "colored  people,"  whom  I  greeted  very 
warmly.  The  household  consisted  of  an  old  man 
and  woman,  each  about  sixty  years  of  age,  and  about 
six  others  who  were  grown.  The  old  man  treated 
me  with  great  politeness,  and  would  persist  in  call 
ing  me  "  Massa,"  notwithstanding  my  repeated  ob 
jections.  I  talked  to  them  some  time  on  the  subject 
of  their  freedom ;  the  old  man  gave  me  distinctly 
to  understand  that  he  considered  their  condition 
much  worsted  by  the  change;  but  the  youngsters 
seemed  to  be  in  a  high  glee  over  their  future  pros 
pects.  I  succeeded  in  gaining  their  confidence  by 
professing  intense  loyalty  to  their  cause,  and  ascer 
tained  beyond  all  doubt  that  a  "  Bosting  man  "  had 
been  through  the  neighborhood  to  obtain  their 
names  and  their  pledges  to  support  him  for  Con 
gress  as  soon  as  the  war  should  close,  with  the 
solemn  promise  from  him  that  he  would  have  all  the 


252 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 


land  and  the  property  of  the  whites  confiscated  and 
given  to  them. 

One  of  the  boys  showed  me  a  paper  which  he  said 
was  a  certificate  that  he  was  to  be  the  owner  of  the 
Anthony  House  in  Little  Rock.  On  inquiring  where 
I  could  find  my  "  Bosting  brother,"  they  told  me  that 
he  was  "down  about  Lewisburg  raising  money  from 
the  Rebels  to  build  school  houses  for  the  colored 
people." 

After  intimating  that  I  was  an  officer  of  the  Freed- 
man's  Bureau,  I  was   about  to  depart,  when  a  tall, 
lank  specimen  of  a  genuine  Eastern  philanthropist 
made  his  appearance  at  the  door.    After  being  as 
sured  that  I  was  "  all  right,"  he  remarked  that  he 
had  been  in  the  neighborhood  several  days,  and  had 
made  out  a  report  of  all  the  property  which  would 
be  confiscated  as  soon  as  he  returned   to  Washing 
ton.    He  proceeded  to  draw  it  out  from  the  lining 
of  his  hat  and  handed  it  to  me  to  read,  1  fumbled 
about  in  my  pockets  for  some  time,    and  then  re 
marked  that  I  had  lost  my  spectacles  ;  he  then  took 
the  paper  and  read  it  with  a  great  deal  of  pomposi 
ty,  commenting  occasionally  on  the  names  as  he 
read  them  off. 

I  sanctioned  the  report  heartily,  and  told  him 
that  it  was  bound  to  win.  He  then  remarked  to  the 
negroes  that  any  assistance  they  could  render  him 
in  the  way  of  money  matters,  would  be  thankfully 
received,  as  he  was  working  for  their  good  alone. 
They  contributed  all  the  money  they  had,  which  I 
think  amounted  to  about  six  dollars.  I  arose  to  de- 


SAMUEL    S.   HILDEBRAND.  253 

part,  stating  that  I  had  promised  to  take  dinner  with 
some  colored  friends  about  a  mile  from  there,  and 
insisted  that  my  "  brother  missionary"  accompany 
me,  to  which  he  readily  consented. 

During  our  walk  he  laid  before  me  many  of  his 
plots  and  plans,  which  fully  convinced  me  that  he 
designated  to  excite  the  minds  of  the  negroes  with 
the  hope  of  ultimately  expelling  all  the  white  peo 
ple  from  the  State,  except  their  immediate  friends 
from  the  North. 

We  finally  arrived  at  the  place,  but  it  proved  to 
be  a  Rebel  camp  instead  of  a  negro  cabin.  On  com 
ing  up  to  the  boys  my  missionary  seemed  to  be  bad 
ly  alarmed,  but  made  no  show  of  resistance.  We 
hung  the  scallawag  to  a  limb,  where  he  remained 
until  we  got  our  dinner,  then  we  took  him  down  and 
threw  him  into  a  hole  of  water,  with  a  large  stone 
tied  to  his  feet.  We  crossed  White  river  at  a  ferry 
several  miles  below  Batesville,  immediately  after 
which  we  came  suddenly  upon  a  company  of  twenty 
armed  men  dressed  in  citizen's  clothes*  As  we  were 
not  posted  in  regard  to  the  state  of  affairs  in  that 
part  of  the  State,  we  were  utterly  at  a  loss  to  know 
to  which  side  they  belonged  in  this  war. 

We  were  first  seen  by  a  tall,  awkward  looking 
specimen  of  humanity,  who  stepped  out  in  front  of 
us  and  questioned  us  about  who  we  were  and  where 
we  were  going. 

He  held  in  his  hand  a  double-barreled  gun  large 
enough  to  have  killed  all  eight  of  us  at  one  fire. 
Without  answering  his  questions,  as  we  wished  to 


254  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

take  items  before  committing  ourselves,  "  asked 
"where  is  your  Captain?"  He  replied  thai  he  was 
going  to  serve  as  captain  himself,  and  immediately 
made  a  remark  that  led  us  to  understand  that  they 
were  merely  a  party  starting  out  on  a  "bear  hunt." 

At  night  we  stopped  at  the  Round  Fond,  and  as 
certained  that  there  was  but  little  Union  sentiment 
in  that  part  of  the  State,  and  that  we  would  meet 
with  no  trouble  from  the  Federals  until  we  got  into 
the  counties  bordering  on  Arkansas  river.  We 
avoided  a  military  camp  at  Clinton,  not  knowing 
to  a  certainty  whether  they  were  Rebels  or  not. 

We  had  no  source  of  information  upon  which  we 
could  explicitly  rely.  On  arriving  in  Conway  coun 
ty  we  stayed  all  night  with  an  old  gentleman  on 
Point  Remove ;  but  being  fearful  that  our  horses 
might  be  stolen,  we  concluded  to  sleep  under  a  shed 
between  the  stable  and  the  smokehouse. 

About  one  o'clock  in  the  night  we  saw  two  ne 
groes  approaching  the  smoke  house  very  cautiously ; 
after  some  little  time  they  succeeded  in  removing  a 
log,  when  one  of  them  crawled  in.  We  made  an  at 
tempt  to  arrest  the  one  on  the  outside,  but  he  got 
away,  followed  by  two  shots,  which,  however, 
missed  him.  A  great  consternation  was  produced 
in  the  house,  and  out  the  old  man  came  with  alight. 
On  taking  our  prisoner  out  he  made  a  clean  breast 
of  it;  he  confessed  that  he  belonged  to  a  band  of 
eight  negroes,  who  were  camped  on  the  bank  of  Ar 
kansas  river,  between  Point  Remove  and  Gilmore's 
Landing;  that  they  were  led  by  a  white  XT: an,  and 


SAMUM.  S.  HILDEBRAND.  255 

were  in  the  habit  of  robbing  white  people,  and  mak 
ing  them  tell  where  their  money  was  concealed  by 
burning  their  feet. 

On  the  next  morning  he  consented  to  pilot  us  to 
the  place  where  they  were  camped ;  but  instead  of 
taking  us  directly  to  the  place,  he  took  us  a  mile 
around  through  the  cane,  and  finally  brought  us 
back  to  within  two  hundred  yards  of  where  we  had 
been  before,  and  then  pointed  to  their  camp.  Here 
it  was,  sure  enough,  but  the  bird  s  had  flown. 

For  this  trick  the  body  of  a  dead  negro  was  soon 
discovered  floating  down  the  muddy  river. 

I  was  much  mortified  in  thus  failing  to  squelch  the 
foot-burning  scallawag  who  was  lea  ding  the  negroes 
on  to  such  acts  of  cruelty ;  but  he  succeeded  in  get 
ting  away  and  is  no  doubt  by  this  time  in  Congress. 

After  remaining  in  the  woods  a  few  miles  from 
Lewisb  urg  for  several  days  without  being  able  to  do 
any  good  toward  ferreting  out  the  "  foot-burners,"  we 
started  back  through  VanBuren  and  Izard  counties 
without  molesting  any  one  until  we  got  near  a  little 
town  called  Mount  Olive,  where  we  captured  a  man 
whom  we  accidentally  met  in  the  road.  Several  of 
my  men  knew  him,  and  stated  that  he  had  been  run 
off  from  Bloomfield,  Missouri,  for  professing  loyalty 
during  the  second  year  of  the  war,  and  thus  betray^ 
ing  the  confidence  his  neighbors  had  hitherto  placed 
in  him.  He  was  also  ac  cused  of  having  had  a  man 
shot  near  Bloomfield,  by  reporting  on  him;  this 
accusation  he  virtually  acknowledged  after  we  had 
captured  him. 


256 


AUTOBIO&RAPHY   OF 


We  took  him  a  few  hundred  yards  from  the  road, 
hung  him  to  a  lirnb,  and  proceeded  on  through  Law 
rence  county  to  our  old  headquarters. 


2  S 


SAMUttL   S.   HILDEBRAJCB.  257 


CHAPTER  XXXIIL 

Qloomy  p-rospeets  for  the  South.  Takes  a  trip  to  Missouri  toitk 
four  menr  Saved  from  capture  by  a  woman.  Visits  his  mother 
on  Big  river.  Robs  the  ttore  of  J.  V.  Tyler  at  Big  River  Mills.—' 
Escape*  to  Arkansas. 

I  had  a  long  conversation  with  Capt.  Bolin,  who 
had  just  returned  from  an  expedition  on  the  head 
waters  of  Current  river,  concerning  the  probable 
termination  of  the  war. 

He  was  a  man  of  considerable  intelligence,  and  I 
always  noticed  on  his  return  from  a  raid  his  pockets 
were  stuffed  full  of  Yankee  newspapers. 

I  found  him  sitting  on  a  log  deeply  absorbed  in 
examining  his  miscellaneous  pile  of  news. 

<cWell,  Captain!  what's  the  news  from  the  North? 
Are  they  ready  to  give  it  up  yet  ?" 

<'  Give  it  up,  indeed!  Sam,  the  war  is  very  near  to 
a  close." 

44 1  thought  sol  I  knew  they  could  not  hold  out 
much  longer ;  I  suppose  we  have  killed  nearly  half 
of  them;  I  hope  they  will  grin  and  bear  it  until  we 
get  another  swipe  at  them!  " 

"  I  rather  think  they  will !  but  Sam,  it  is  the 
South  which  is  going  under;  her  fate  is  already 
sealed." 

"  What  makes  you  think  so  ?" 

44 1  think  so  because  the  great  armies  of  the  Con- 


258  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

federacy  are  crippled  and  almost  annihilated ;  their 
whole  country  is  overrun  and  impoverished  by  im 
mense  Northern  armies ;  I  fear  that  our  great  chief 
tains,  will  be  compelled  to  yield,  and  when  they  go 
under,  our  little  fighting  here  must  also  stop." 

M  Ah,  Captain,  you  get  that  from  your  Yankee 
papers ;  I  can't  believe  anything  that  they  contain." 

I  must  acknowledge  however,  that  I  was  some 
what  staggered  by  Capt.  Bolin's  candid  remarks.  I 
immediately  selected  four  men,  being  determined 
to  make  another  trip  to  see  whether  the  Federals 
had  literally  swallowed  up  the  whole  country  or  not 

We  made  our  way  up  Black  river,  thinking  that 
we  would  be  very  likely  to  make  the  trip  on  that 
route  without  ever  seeing  a  Federal. 

One  evening,  on  the  first  day  of  March,  1865,  after 
remaining  in  a  thicket  nearly  all  day,  we  concluded 
to  approach  the  house  of  a  friend  with  whom  we 
had  stopped  on  a  previous  trip.  A  terrible  rain 
storm  was  coming  up,  and  we  thought  we  could 
leave  our  horses  where  they  were  and  repair  to  the 
house  for  shelter  until  the  rain  should  cease. 

Our  friend  was  from  home  ;  he  had  gone  toward 
Springfield  to  look  after  his  son  whom  he  feared  had 
been  murdered  by  some  of  the  roving  bands  of 
Federals.  We  learned  from  the  good  woman  that 
none  of  the  enemy  had  passed  that  road  for  a  long 
time ;  so  feeling  perfectly  safe  we  repaired  to  the 
barn  intending  to  get  a  little  sleep,  but  took  the 
precaution  to  crawl  up  into  the  loft  and  over  the  hay 
into  a  low  place  near  the  wall. 


SAMUEL  S.   HILDEBRAND. 

Directly  after  dark  we  were  awakened  by  the 
noise  of  a  large  empty  wagon  that  was  driven  up  to 
the  barn,  just  under  our  window;  on  peeping  out 
the  truth  flashed  across  our  minds  in  an  instant 
that  not  less  than  fifty  Federal  soldiers  were  in  the 
barn  yard  all  around  us ;  but  on  watching  their 
maneuvers  a  few  minutes,  we  .became  satisfied  that 
they  knew  nothing  of  our  presence. 

The  barn  floor  below  us  was  soon  fall  of  them,  and 
in  a  few  minutes  eight  or  ten  of  them  crawled  up 
through  the  window  on  to  the  hay  and  rolled  up  in 
their  blankets,  between  us  and  the  window.  Our 
escape  seemed  impossible;  we  could  not  slip  out  at 
the  window  without  stepping  on  the  soldiers;  we 
might  indeed  lay  still  and  escape  detection  for  a 
while,  but  we  knew  full  well  that  as  soon  as  it  was 
light  enough  they  would  load  their  wagon  with  the 
hay  and  be  sure  to  discover  us.  For  once  I  was  at 
my  wit's  end. 

In  this  predicament  we  lay  for  two  long  hours, 
when  all  at  once  we  heard  the  alarm  of  fire ;  our 
good  woman  was  calling  lustily  for  help.  In  the 
corner  of  the  yard  about  fifty  feet  from  the  house 
there  stood  a  little  cabin  that  had  once  been  her 
dwelling  house  but  which  was  now  used  as  a  kind  of 
receptacle  for  old  boxes  and  barrels. 

This  house  was  in  flames,  and  we  learned  after 
wards  that  she  set  it  on  fire  herself  to  draw  the  sold 
iers  from  the  barn  so  that  we  might  effect  our 
escape.  In  this  she  succeeded  admirably ;  every  one 
broke  for  the  fire  and  prevented  it  from  catching 


260  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

the  main  building,  while  we  made  our  escape  with 
out  any  trouble  whatever.  We  took  a  long  breath 
of  relief,  mounted  our  horses  and  made  one  good 
night's  travel.  Passing  near  the  town  of  Buford 
then  west  of  Fredericktown,  we  arrived  in  the 
vicinity  of  Flat  Woods  and  remained  concealed  in 
a  thick  forest  during  the  day.  In  the  ev< <nng,  two 
of  my  men  who  were  dressed  in  Federa  uniform, 
wandered  off  from  the  camp  and  were  discovered  by 
a  citizen  named  John  Myers,  who  mistook  them  for 
Union  soldiers  and  immediately  commenced  telling 
them  how,  thus  far,  he  had  succeeded  in  deceiving 
the  Rebels.  He  handed  them  a  sheet  of  paper  on 
which  he  had  written  out  a  full  report  of  his  success 
in  ferreting  out  the  friends  of  Sam  Hildebrand  in 
that  neighborhood.  He  stated  that  he  was  in  the 
habit  of  reporting  to  the  Rebels  also,  and  to  prove 
the  matter  he  drew  from  his  pocket  a  half  worn 
paper  purporting  to  be  an  account  of  the  Federal 
movements  in  that  section  of  country.  He  mani 
fested  a  great  desire  for  my  capture,  and  when  they 
told  him  that  I  had  actually  been  captured  and  was 
a  prisoner  at  their  camp  near  by,  he  waved  his  hat 
and  shouted  like  an  Indian.  They  brought  him  into 
camp  to  satisfy  his  curiosity ;  but  on  discovering 
that  I  was  not  tied  he  started  to  retreat,  but  was 
stopped  by  my  men.  As  soon  as  night  began  to  ap 
proach  we  shot  him  and  proceeded  on  toward  Big 
river,  but  stopped  in  the  pinery  northwest  from 
Farmington,  where  we  remained  two  days.  On 
leaving  there  we  took  supper  with  a  friend  near  Big 


SAMUEL   S.   HILDEBRAN1X  261 

River  Mills  and  proceeded  down  the  river  to  the  old 
Hildebrand  homestead. 

During  Price's  raid  into  that  section  of  country  I 
left  word  for  my  enemies  that  they  should  build  my 
mother  another  house  at  the  old  homestead  in  lieu 
of  the  one  they  had  burned,  otherwise,  I  would  burn 
the  last  one  of  them  out.  Some  of  my  friends  how 
ever,  seeing  that  they  were  slow  about  commencing 
it,  and  wishing  perhaps  to  screen  them,  met  together 
and  in  a  very  short  time  built  her  a  cabin,  which 
answered  her  purpose  very  well  for  a  temporary 
abode.  Into  this  cabin  she  removed,  and  there  I 
found  her  on  the  night  of  March  6th,  1865.  I  left  my 
men  and  horses  in  a  secure  place  near  by,  and  quiet 
ly  approached  the  premises  where  once  had  been 
the  happy  home  of  my  childhood.  It  was  late  in  the 
night  when  I  called  at  the  door,  but  my  mother  had 
not  yet  retired;  knowing  my  voice  she  laid  her  spec 
tacles  upon  her  open  bible  where  she  had  been 
reading,  and  softly  opened  the  door.  Her  motherly 
arms  entwined  around  my  neck,  the  same  arms  that 
had  so  often  lulled  me  to  sleep  in  my  innocent 
childhood,  that  had  so  often  clasped  me  to  her  bosom 
and  made  me  feel  secure  from  all  the  dangers  and 
storms  of  life.  My  heart  beat  strangely  as  all  those 
dear  scenes  and  all  the  events  of  my  life  in  one 
short  minute  crowded  through  my  memory.  I  could 
not  help  contrasting  her  own  condition  at  that  hap 
py  period  with  the  cheerless  present.  As  sfie  took 
her  seat  I  could  not  help  noticing  the  calm  serenity 
of  her  countenance;  a  quiet  resignation  seemed  to 


262  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

pervade  her  nature.  Considering  the  terrible  loss 
that  her  kind  heart  had  sustained  in  the  cruel  death 
of  her  three  boys,  and  in  the  utter  uprooting  of  all 
her  cherished  hopes  in  this  world,  I  was  at  a  loss  to 
account  for  it,  and  was  about  to  express  my  wonder 
when  she  seemed  to  divine  my  thoughts  before  my 
question  was  formed,  and  with  a  slight  motion  of 
her  hand  toward  the  bible,  she  said  in  a  faltering 
tone:  "My  dear  boy!  you  are  more  unhappy  than 
I  am ! "  The  remark  was  so  true,  that  I  wished  I  had 
the  power  to  obliterate  the  past,  and  to  commence 
life  again  as  a  little  frolicsome  boy  around  my 
mother's  chair. 

I  remained  with  her  most  of  the  time  during  the 
next  day.  It  was  her  impression  that  the  war  was 
near  its  close;  that  the  triumph  of  the  Union  cause 
was  almost  complete,  and  she  insisted  strongly  that 
when  the  Southern  soldiers  should  lay  down  their 
arms,  that  I  with  the  rest  would  yield  obedience  to 
the  government  and  claim  its  protection. 

I  was  so  softened  by  this  interview  with  my  moth 
er,  that  I  almost  forgot  my  enemies ;  and  I  made  up 
my  mind  to  return  to  Arkansas  without  killing  any 
one  if  I  could  do  so  with  safety  to  myself. 

But  it  was  necessary  that  I  and  my  men  should 
take  some  goods  with  us,  for  our  families,  at  this 
time,  were  rather  needy;  and  believing  that  friends 
as  well  as  foes  should  bear  a  part  of  the  burden  of 
our  suffering  families,  inasmuch  as  all  our  energies 
had  been  directed  to  the  accomplishment  of  an  ob 
ject  which  they  so  strenuously  contended  was  right, 


SAMUEL  6.   HILDEBRAtfD.  2C3 

we  concluded  to  make  a  small  raid  into  the  town  of 
Big  River  Mills  that  my  friends  might  still  know  we 
were  on  the  war  path.  We  started  late  in  the  eve 
ning  and  kept  along  the  main  road,  arriving  in  town 
between  sundown  and  dark.  We  went  to  the  store 
of  J.  Y.  Tyler,  and  helped  ourselves  to  such  articles 
as  we  actually  needed.  After  mounting  our  horses 
we  did  not  remain  long  to  see  the  balance  of  our 
friends,  but  hurried  on  all  that  night  to  get  as  far 
beyond  the  gravel  road  at  night  as  possible. 

We  lay  up  to  rest  ourselves  during  the  day;  but 
about  two  o'clock  in  the  evening,  we  discovered  a 
considerable  force  of  Federals  on  our  track;  they 
came  to  the  place  where  our  trail  commenced  wind 
ing  around  the  hill,  and  there  they  began  to  move 
very  cautiously. 

I  plainly  saw  from  their  movements  that  they  had 
learned  my  trick  of  making  a  circuit  before  camp 
ing;  this  being  the  case  I  determined  to  escape  by 
the  same  knowledge.  We  started  very  cautiously 
down  the  hill  in  an  opposite  direction,  rode  about 
three  miles,  made  another  circuit  and  went  on  in  a 
great  hurry.  Every  few  miles  we  made  a  similar 
curve,  but  continued  on,  and  by  the  time  they  had 
crept  cautiously  up  to  the  last  place  we  were  far 
beyond  their  reach. 

We  had  no  further  trouble  with  the  Federals, 
and  reached  Arkansas  with  all  our  goods. 


264  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

Started  to  Missouri  with  three  men.  Surrounded  at  night  near 
Fredericktown.  Narrow  escape  by  a  cunning  device.  Retired  to 
Simms'  Mountain.  Swapped  horses  with  Robert  Hill  and  cap 
tured  some  more.  Killed  Free  Jim  and  kidnapped  a  negro  boy. 

About  the  first  of  April,  1865, 1  started  to  Mis 
souri  with  four  men,  one  of  whom  was  Tom  Haile. 
We  passed  west  of  Bloomfield,  and  made  an  attempt 
to  take  in  a  German  living  in  the  edge  of  Wayne 
county,  whose  name  I  never  could  pronounce.  He 
had  rendered  himself  rather  obnoxious  to  us  by  his 
officiousness  in  carrying  news  to  the  Federal  au 
thorities. 

On  going  up  to  his  house  about  sunrise,  thinking 
to  find  him  asleep,  we  made  no  attempt  at  conceal 
ment,  but  marched  directly  up  toward  the  front  of 
his  house;  when  we  got  within  a  hundred  and  fifty 
yards  of  the  house  he  ran  out  and  struck  across  a 
little  field ;  we  fired  our  guns  at  him,  shooting  one 
at  a  time;  every  time  we  fired  he  squalled  like  a 
panther,  which  tickled  Tom  Haile  so  well  he  could 
not  shoot,  but  laughed  about  as  loud  as  the  Dutch 
man  yelled.  We  made  no  attempt  to  pursue  him,  as 
we  cared  very  little  about  him  any  way.  We 
marched  on  toward  Fredericktown,  reaching  that 
place  one  morning  about  daybreak,  and  secreted 


SAMUEL   S.  HILDEBRANB.  265 

ourselves  for  the  day,  during  which  time  Haile  went 
into  Fredericktown. 

After  tying  up  an  old  coat  in  a  dirty  cotton  hand 
kerchief,  and  swinging  it  on  a  stick  which  he  carried 
on  his  shoulder,  he  walked  into  town,  passing  him 
self  off  for  a  lame  Irishman  who  wanted  a  job  for  a 
few  days;  he  found  some  soldiers  there,  but  did  not 
learn  their  number. 

While  in  town  he  met  several  acquaintances  who 
kindly  passed  him  without  recognition. 

It  appears,  however,  that  in  the  morning  as  we 
were  passing  Mr.  Blake's  farm  we  w^ere  discovered 
by  some  one  and  reported  to  the  soldiers. 

A  company  was  ordered  out  to  guard  a  gap  where 
we  were  in  the  habit  of  passing,  and  we  distinctly 
heard  their  horses'  feet  on  the  gravel  road  as  they 
passed  our  retreat  where  we  lay  concealed  in  the 
thick  forest  awaiting  the  approach  of  night. 

Immediately  after  dark  we  started,  but  on  cross 
ing  the  gravel  road  two  shots  were  fired  at  us  from 
a  short  distance;  we  dashed  through  the  thick 
brush,  but  my  horse  soon  got  tangled  in  a  grape 
vine,  and  the  boys  all  left  me,  vainly  endeavoring 
to  get  him  along.  '".»  7 

The  firing  became  very  rapid.  In  riding  through 
the  thick  tangled  brush  I  made  too  much  noise,  an! 
the  first  thing  I  knew  I  was  completely  surrounded, 
though  their  lines  as  yet  were  at  some  distance. 

Having  no  time  to  lose  I  quickly  dismounted, 
dropped  the  bridle  rein  over  a  snag,  and  ran  back 
about  one  hundred  yards ;  I  stepped  behind  a  bush 
12 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

and  remained  very  quiet,  knowing  if  I  fired  they 
would  see  the  flash  of  my  pistol. 

They  were  closing  up  in  regular  order  toward  the 
point  where  my  horse  stood.  I  waited  until  they 
were  within  ten  steps  of  me,  then  facing  toward  the 
horse  which  now  gave  a  snort,  I  gave  a  few  steps, 
then  in  a  low  but  commanding  tone,  I  cried  out: 
"Advance  with  more  caution !  they  can  hear  you  a 
mile !"  By  this  time  I  was  in  their  line,  and  under 
the  pretense  of  correcting  some  irregularity  in  their 
movements,  I  stepped  behind  them  and  got  away 
without  creating  the  least  suspicion. 

Being  next  discovered  by  the  guard  who  were 
holding  the  horses,  I  told  them  that  we  had  the 
bushwhackers  all  surrounded,  and  that  to  make  a 
sure  thing  we  must  have  more  men. 

Mounting  the  best  looking  horse  I  could  find  by 
the  dim  light  of  the  moon,  I  started  toward  Fred- 
ericktown  in  a  great  hurry;  but  when  out  of  dan 
ger  I  changed  my  course  for  Simms'  mountain  in  St. 
Francois  county,  the  place  designated  for  our  meet 
ing  in  case  of  trouble. 

The  Federals  probably  captured  my  horse,  but 
that  was  no  loss  to  me,  for  I  had  obtained  a  much 
better  one. 

I  rode  all  night  and  a  part  of  the  next  day  by  my 
self  before  I  reached  our  place  of  rendezvous.  My 
men  were  not  there,  and  as  the  day  wore  away  I  be 
gan  to  fear  that  some  misfortune  had  befallen  them  ; 
but  they  made  their  appearance  after  dark,  and  re 
ported  that  the  Federals  had  given  them  a  severe 


SAMUJ-L    S.    1IILDEBRASD.  1JG  < 

chase;  immediately  after  which  they  met  a  squad 
of  Federals  who  chased  them  the  other  way. 

Simms'  Mountain  is  a  very  high  elevation  of  land 
scarcely  ever  visited  except  by  hunters  at  certain 
seasons  of  the  year.  It  looms  up  above  the  other 
hills,  affording  a  fine  view  of  the  whole  surrounding 
country.  While  we  lay  here  Tom  Haile  took  a  trip  to 
Iron  Mountain  to  learn  the  news  at  the  military  camp, 
and  to  get  some  provisions.  After  getting  near  the 
place  he  left  his  horse  and  his  arms  in  the  woods, 
stopped  at  an  old  coal  pit  to  smut  his  face  and  his 
hands,  and  then  we-nt  into  town  disguised  as  a  col 
lier,  of  whom  there  were  many  in  the  neighbor*- 
hood.  While  purchasing  some  provisions  at  a  store 
he  le-arned  that  "five  hundred  soldiers  had  Sam 
Hildebrand  suBrounded  in  a  thicket  from  which  it 
was  impossible  for  him  to  escape." 

This  was  good  news,  for  it  would  enable  us  to 
make  a  caid  on  Big  river  in  broad  daylight  with  per 
fect  impunity.  We  passed  down-  Flat  river  during 
the  latter  part  of  the  night,  crossed  Big  river  at  the 
Haile  Ford  and  rode  into  town  just  as  the  sun  was 
rising.  Finding  no  goods  there  that  suited  us  we 
continued  along  the  main  road  until  we  got  to  the 
residence  of  our  good  Union  friend,  Kobert  Hill. 
We  wished  to  make  him  a  friendly  visit  and  swap 
off  some  of  our  horses,  for  Tom  Haile  dissuaded  me 
from  doing  him  any  personal  injury. 

I  took  two  of  his  best  horses  and  left  two  in  their 
place;  we  charged  him  some  boot,  but  had  to  take 


265  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

it  in  clothing  and  such  articles  from  the  nouse  as  we 
could  make  use  of. 

On  leaving  there  we  turned  south  and  passed 
along  the  most  public  road  four  or  five  miles  until 
we  came  to  Nesbit  Orton's.  We  took  a  fancy  to  a 
couple  of  mares  that  some  neighbors  had  there, 
one  belonging  to  Tom  Highley  and  the  other  to 
Tom  Crunkleton.  The  mare,  however,  which  we 
took  from  the  latter  did  not  like  Rebels,  for  on  get 
ting  a  few  miles  I  concluded  that  she  would  make  a 
splendid  war  horse ;  but  she  threw  all  my  men,  one 
at  a  time,  and  when  I  was  about  to  try  my  luck  she 
gave  a  snort,  broke  away  from  us  and  made  her  es 
cape. 

Tom  Haile  had  remained  behind  to  visit  some  of 
his  friends  on  Big  river,  and  did  not  overtake  us  un 
til  we  got  to  Cook  settlement. 

I  and  my  other  men  continued  to  travel  along  the 
road  until  we  reached  the  shanty  belonging  to  an 
old  free  negro  by  the  name  of  Jim.  He  had  made 
himself  the  dread  of  Southern  sympathizers  in  his 
neighborhood  by  frequentlv  visiting  the  different 
military  posts  with  various  charges  against  them, 
such  as  feeding  bushwhackers,  etc. 

To  satisfy  myself  in  regard  to  his  complicity  in 
the  matter,  we  rode  up  to  his  cabin,  each  one  being 
dressed  in  Federal  uniform. 

On  calling  him  out  I  gave  him  a  hearty  shake  of 
the  hand,  and  inquired  if  he  had  learned  anything 
more  about  that  man  Madkins  he  was  telling  me 
about  at  the  Knob;  at  this  the  old  negro  imagined 


SAMUEL    S.    UlLDfcJtJRAM). 

thai  he  recognized  me  as  Col.  -  — ,  and  asked  me 
what  I  had  done  with  my  shoulder-straps  ;  to  which 
I  replied  that  I  wanted  to  find  out  a  few  things  for 
myself,  and  enjoined  secrecy  on  him  in  regard  to 
my  disguised  appearance. 

He  made  charges  against  several  of  the  best  men 
in  the  neighborhood,  which  was  calculated  to  con 
sign  them  to  summary  punishment  according  to 
Federal  usage. 

After  making  his  statements,  he  asked  me  if  I  was 
still  willing  to  take  his  son  for  a  waiting  boy;  I  told 
him  that  I  was,  and  that  I  designed  taking  him  along 
with  me  this  time,  having  brought  a  horse  for  that 
purpose.  He  called  the  boy  out  and  told  him  to 
mount  the  horse,  which  he  at  first  refused  to  do  ; 
but  after  I  had  got  the  old  negrcr  to  mount  another 
horse  for  the  purpose  of  going  with  us  a  few  miles, 
the  boy  consented  and  seemed  very  well  recon 
ciled. 

After  going  about  two*  miles  I  shot  old  Jim,  but 
took  the  boy  on  with  us. 

We  stopped  near  the  residence  of  Francis  Clark, 
in  Cook  settlement,  to  get  our  dinners;  and  while 
there  some  Federals  came  along,  but  seeing  us  they 
turned  off  the  road  and  went  around  without  mo 
lesting  us.  We  proceeded  on  without  any  further 
trouble,  but  traveled  altogether  in  the  night. 

On  reaching  the  St.  Francis  we  found  it  still  out 
of  its  banks;  we,  however,  succeeded  in  swimming 
it  by  resting  our  horses  on  an  island  about  half  way. 
From  there  we  arrived  safely  at  home,  and  for  the 


270  AUIOUlUUllAPliY    OF 

first  time  in  my  life  I  owned  a  negro.    I  was  to  all 
intents  and  purposes  a  genuine  slaveholder. 

Immediately  after  I  left  Big  river  on  my  last  raid, 
Robert  Hill  became  satisfied  that,  as  I  took  his 
horses,  he  could  no  longer  pass  himself  off  for  a 
Rebel  and  a  Union  man  at  the  same  time.  He  was 
a  member  both  of  the  "Knights  of  the  Golden 
Circle"  and  the  "Union  League."  A  few  days  after 
I  "  swapped  horses  "  with  him,  he  went  before  the 
provost  marshal,  at  Potosi,  and  represented  that  in 
consequence  of  his  Union  sentiments  he  could  not 
live  at  home  on  Big  river  without  a  band  of  soldiers 
for  his  protection. 

Failing,  however,  in  his  purpose,  he  went  to  Iron- 
ton  and  made  a  similar  statement  to  the  provost 
marshal  at  that  place.  Certain  Union  men,  how 
ever,  who  knew  all  the  facts  in  the  case,  represented 
the  whole  matter  as  arising  from  personal  enmity 
against  Dr.  A.  W.  Keith  ^nd  others. 

Thwarted  again  in  his  designs,  he  was  left  a  few 
days  to  muse  over  his  misfortunes;  but  a  bright 
idea  finally  came  to  his  relief:  He  would  expose  the 
"Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle,"  and  consign  his 
brother  members  to  an  indiscriminate  butchery ! 

The  war  was  nearly  at  an  end ;  the  Union  cause 
was  about  to  triumph ;  and  one  string  was  enough 
to  play  on  during  the  balance  of  the  struggle.  He 
would  startle  the  world  by  his  disclosures;  the 
earth  should  be  dumbfounded,  and  mankind  should 
stand  aghast  at  the  magnitude  of  his  revelations! 
He  sought  and  obtained  a  private  interview  with 


SAAILLL  t>.  mLDiUKAM'.  271 

the  provost  marshal.  At  this  time  the  sun  was 
serenely  smiling  upon  the  eart^;  spring  had  just 
made  her  advent,  and  was  strewing  garlands  of 
flowers  along  the  meadows  and  sunny  hillsides,  as 
if  nothing  was  about  to  happen  ;  and  men  through 
out  the  world,  unmindful  of  what  was  about  to  take 
place,  were  plodding  on  in  their  daily  pursuits. 

All  things  being  now  ready,  he  told  the  marshal 
that  he  was  a  member  of  the  Union  League.  This 
announcement  was  a  satisfactory  proof  of  his  loy 
alty,  for  this  Northern  KuKlux  League  was  insti 
tuted  to  save  the  National  Union  secretly. 

He  then  stated  that,  for  the  good  of  his  country, 
he  had  also  joined  the  Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle ; 
that  the  Circle  met  at  the  house  of  Joseph  Herrod, 
on  Big  river,  and  that  many  of  the  leading  men  in 
that  neighborhood  were  members. 

The  patriotic  motives  of  Robert  Hill  will  be  very 
apparent  to  the  reader,  when  I  state  that  at  the  out 
break  of  the  rebellion,  when  he  joined  the  Golden 
Circle,  he  was  a  slaveholder,  and  utterly  pro-slavery 
in  sentiment. 

How  pure,  then,  must  have  been  his  motives 
when,  for  the  good  of  his  country,  even  at  that  early 
day,  he  bound  himself  with  oaths  like  adamant  for 
the  purpose  of  finally  exposing  the  Circle,  as  soon 
as  it  should  have  run  its  race  and  become  defunct ! 

If  the  Southern  Confederacy  had  won,  his  patriot 
ism  would  have  prompted  him  to  expose  the  Union 
League  ;  and  when  the  last  expiring  beacon  of  Fed 
eral  hope  was  about  to  be  extinguished,  he  probably 


S  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

would  have  called  for  troops  to  crush  the  members 
of  the  Union  League  to  which  he  belonged ! 

The  representations  he  made  to  the  provost  mar 
shal  had  the  desired  effect ;  a  telegram  was  sent 
to  Col.  Beverage,  at  Cape  Girardeau,  who  sent  Lieu 
tenant  Brown,  with  forty  men,  to  Big  River  Mills. 

The  statement  made  by  Hill,  however,  needed 
confirmation.  It  was  desirable  to  prove  the  charges 
by  some  one  whose  word,  on  account  of  the  color 
of  his  skin,  could  never  for  a  moment  be  doubted. 

A  negro  man  by  the  name  of  Buck  Poston  lived 
in  the  neighborhood  ;  his  skin  was  black  enough  for 
him  to  be  considered  perpetually  under  oath,  so 
they  repaired  immediately  to  his  domicil,  for  the 
purpose  of  implicating  certain  persons  as  belonging 
to  the  Golden  Circle. 

Brown  and  his  men  put  a  rope  around  his  neck, 
and  tried  to  frighten  him  into  a  belief  that  he  would 
be  hung  unless  he  confirmed  Hill's  statements.  But 
Buck  was  a  brave  man,  and  answered  "no"  to  each 
one  of  Hill's  accusations  against  his  neighbors. 

Finally  they  told  him  that  he  was  now  about  to 
be  hung,  and  appealed  to  him  to  know  if  he  did  not 
love  his  wife  and  children,  and  urged  him  just  to 
say  "yes,"  and  live;  but  the  old  man  replied: 
"Well,  Massa,  I  does  know  some  little  things  ;  but 
I's  gwine  to  take  it  all  to  t'other  world  with  me !  " 
Neither  persuasions,  threats,  the  glittering  of  bay 
onets,  nor  the  prospect  of  death,  could  make  him 
divulge  anything. 

The  color  of  his  skin,  however,  saved  his  life,  and 


SAMUEL   S.   111LDEBUA&D.  273 

his  tormentors  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  return 
to  camp.  During  the  night  follow  in  g  he  gave  warn 
ing  to  those  whom  he  knew  to  be  in  dang  er. 

On  the  next  day,  May  1  , 1805,  Lieut.  Brown  took 
four  men,  rode  up  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Jo^ph  Her- 
rod,  and  iound  him  at  home.  They  order*  d  him  to 
get  his  horse  and  go  with  them  to  Farrnington.  He 
did  so,  but  on  getting  half  a  mile  from  the  house-, 
they  took  him  twenty  or  th:rty  steps  from  the  road 
arid  shot  him  through  the  bick  of  the  head.  There 
they  left  him,  where  he  was  found  the  next  day. 

Thus  perished  a  young  man  who,  for  ki  ndness  of 
heart,  strict  integrity,  and  moral  honesty  had  no 
superiors,  and  but  few  equals. 

Before  proceeding  any  further  with  the  slaughter, 
Lieut.  Brown  went  and  consulted  with  Franklin 
Murphy,  who  told  him  that  the  whole  matter  was 
the  resu  It  of  a  neighborhood  difficulty,  which  did  not 
warrant  Federal  interference  in  any  manner  what 
ever. 

Brown  and  his  men,  during  their  stay  on  Big 
river,  were  engaged  in  a  wholesale  robbery  and 
plunder  of  the  citizens,  taking  their  property  with 
out  even  a  promise  to  pay.  Their  depredations 
were  even  more  intolerable  than  the  same  number 
of  hostile  Indians  would  have  been  ;  but  after 
Brown  had  been  better  informed  as  to  the  true  na 
ture  of  affairs  he  became  half  civilized,  and  on  tak 
ing  property  he  gave  government  vouchers.  These 
debts  against  the  government,  however,  were  finally 
rejected,  the  people  having  been  reported  as  dis- 


274  --aiOBIOGKAPliY   OF 

loyal.  Even  the  widow  Baker  lost  over  one  hun 
dred  dollars  by  some  one  reporting  her  as  a  Southern 
sympathizer. 

After  feasting  off  of  the  neighborhood  for  about 
two  months,  Brown  and  his  infamous  band  of  van 
dals  took  their  departure.  The  conspiracy,  founded 
on  the  marvelous  revelation  of  a  broken  oath,  and 
emanating  fram  the  fertile  brain  of  base  malignity, 
suddenly  collapsed. 


SAMUEL   S.  HILDEBKA3SD,  275 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

Trip  to  Missouri  with  four  men. — Attempt  to  rob  Taylor's  store. 
— Fight  with  Lieut.  Brown  and  his  soldiers. — Killed  Miller 
and  Johnson  at  Flat  Woods. — Return  home  from  his  last 
raid. — The  war  is  pronounced  to  be  at  an  end. — Reflections 
on  the  termination  of  the  war. — Mrs.  Hildebrand's  advice. — 
The  parole  at  Jacksonport. 

When  the  war  first  broke  out*  in  Missouri,  and 
after  the  persecutions  against  ^the  Hildebrand  fam 
ily  had  become  so  intolerable  that  I  was  compelled 
to  flee  the  country,  I  owed  a  small  debt  to  D.  W. 
Taylor,  a  merchant  living  at  Valley's  Mines,  in  Jef 
ferson  county. 

After  the  mob  had  destroyed  my  property  and 
driven  me  into  the  Southern  army  for  protection,  it 
was  impossible  forme  to  pay  the,  debt  during  the 
struggle. 

In  all  communities  there  are  "land  sharks"  who 
are  willing  to  befriend  an  intended  victim  to  a  cer 
tain  extent,  but  who  are  ready  at  the  first  approach 
of  an  unforseen  disaster  to  gobble  up  his  lands. 

In  this  instance,  Taylor  attached  my  interest  in 
the  Hildebrand  homestead,  and  while  the  country 
was  in  the  ebullition  of  civil  war,  had  it  sold  at 
public  vendue,  bidding  it  in  himself  for  a  mere 
nominal  sum. 

For  this  little  piece  of  ingenuity  I  now  determined 
to  award  him  with  a  clear  title  to  another  small 


276  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  X)F 

tract  of  land,  four  feet  by  six,  to  have  and  to  hold, 
as  his  own  individual  possession,  until  Gabriel 
should  blow  his  horn. 

With  this  intention,  on  the  28th  day  of  April,  1865, 
I  started  with  four  men  for  another  raid  into  Mis 
souri.  We  made  our  way  quietly  and  cautiously 
through  the  southern  counties  of  Missouri,  all  of 
which  were  now  held  by  Federal  soldiers,  for  the 
protection  of  the  citizens — the  protect  ion,  however, 
being  the  same  kind  that  the  vulture  gave  the  lamb. 

Reaching  Big  river  late  in  the  night,  we  repaired 
to  the  Pike  Run  hills  and  slept  until  morning. 
Knowing  that  we  would  be  more  apt  to  catch  Tay 
lor  in  daytime,  we  started  in  the  morning  and  rode 
over  to  Taylor's  store,  which  was  distant  only  about 
six  miles.  He  was  not  at  home,  and  having  no  time 
to  lose,  we  went  into  his  store  and  commenced  se 
lecting  such  goods  as  we  wanted,  when  we  were 
suddenly  run  on  to  by  some  Federal  soldiers,  under 
Lieut.  Brown,  from  Perry  county,  but  who  was  at 
that  time  stationed  at  Big  River  Mills,  with  forty 
men,  one-half  of  whom  he  had  with  him  on  the 
present  occasion. 

They  came  up  within  two  hundred  yards  of  the 
store,  and  commenced  firing  and  yelling  at  a  terri 
ble  rate.  We  ran  out  to  our  horses,  which  were 
tied  to  the  brush  not  more  than  forty  yards  off,  but 
on  the  opposite  side  from  the  soldiers.  One  of  my 
men  was  killed  by  an  accidental  shot,  and  another 
one  who  happened  to  be  a  new  recruit  left  his  horse 
and  ran  off  through  the  woods,  leaving  me  with  an 


SAMUEL    S.  iilLUEBKA.ND.  V 

army  of  only  two  men,  besides  myself,  to  repel  the 
attack  of  twenty  regulars.  The  Federals,  however, 
after  their  first  fire,  took  refuge  behind  some  old 
houses  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  off,  and 
from  there  showed  us  a  very  harmless  and  cowardly 
fight.  After  I  gained  my  horse,  I  used  him  for  a 
fortification  and  shot  several  rounds  at  them ;  occa 
sionally  I  could  see  one's  head  bob  around  a  corner, 
but  they  were  out  of  range,  and  my  shots  fell  harm 
less  to  the  ground.  My  other  two  men  now  left  me 
alone,  and  for  several  minutes  I  remained,  trying  to 
get  a  dead  shot  at  one  of  the  Federals  ;  but  having 
no  chance  to  do  so,  without  charging  them  by  myself, 
I  mounted  my  horse  and  retreated,  leaving  my  dead 
man  upon  the  ground,  whom  they  charged  and  shot 
several  times  after  I  left.  I  went  on  to  an  adjoining 
hill,  but  failing  to  find  my  men,  I  rattled  my  cow 
bell,  which  I  had  with  me  for  emergencies  of  this 
kind,  and  in  half  an  hour  my  three  men  were  with 
me. 

Having  made  a  complete  failure,  it  is  not  unreas 
onable  to  suppose  that  we  felt  very  much  chagrined 
at  our  ill  luck,  and  knowing  that  if  we  started  south 
then,  we  would  be  annoyed  by  Federals  on  our  trail, 
we  repaired  again  to  the  Pike  Run  hills  for  safety, 
where  we  could  easily  have  whipped  all  the  forces 
within  the  three  surrounding  counties.  My  com 
rade  who  was  on  foot  went  about  four  miles  to  the 
house  of  an  old  acquaintance  and  obtained  ahorse, 
by  promising  to  return  him  again  in  six  weeks; 


278  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

which  promise,  I  will  here  state,  he  afterwards  faith 
fully  performed. 

It  was  now  about  the  middle  of  May,  and  we  were 
anxious  to  be  on  our  way  back ;  so  we  started  one 
night  and  went  as  far  as  Flat  Woods. 

Before  Mcllvaine  and  the  soldiers  had  driven  me 
from  there,  I  became  acquainted  with  two  men, 
George  Miller  and  Joseph  Johnson,  who  professed 
great  friendship  for  me ;  but  some  time  after  my 
expulsion  from  that  neighborhood,  they  visited  my 
house  and  used  abusive  language  to  my  wife,  making 
threats  what  they  intended  to  do  with  me.  Johnson 
had  the  impudence  to  remark  that  he  intended  to 
kill  me  and  bring  my  head  to  her  swinging  to  the 
horn  of  his  saddle. 

These  were  not  vain  threats,  for  they  watched  for 
me  for  a  long  time ;  but  after  they  learned  a  little 
more  about  me,  they  were  very  shy,  and  up  to  the 
present  time  I  had  never  got  my  eyes  upon  either 
of  them. 

Late  in  the  evening,  on  the  next  day  after  our 
arrival  in  the  neighborhood,  as  I  was  passing  a 
house  I  saw  a  lady  dressing  some  butter,  and  wish 
ing  for  a  good  drink  of  buttermilk,  I  alighted  a  mo 
ment  and  went  in  the  house.  As  I  was  dressed  in 
Federal  uniform,  the  good  woman  asked  me  if  I 
was  hunting  for  Sam  Hildebrand ;  on  telling  her 
that  I  was,  she  went  on  to  give  me  the  particulars 
of  our  affray  at  Taylor's  store,  ascribing  to  the  Fed 
eral  arms  the  most  brilliant  victory,  by  statins:  that 
'  Lieut.  Brown,  with  only  twenty  men,  ran  upon 


SAMUEL   S.   IIILDEBRASD.  279 

Hildehrand's  Bushwhackers  and  completely  routed 
them,  killing  fourteen  and  wounding  several  more  ; 
a  great  many  soldiers  are  now  after  him,  and  have 
him  surrounded  in  a  place  where  he  can  never 
get  back  here  to  bother  us  again  ! "  I  asked  her  if 
she  would  please  give  Sam  Hildebrand  a  drink  of 
buttermilk  ?  She  looked  at  me  a  moment  and  then 
replied:  "Yes,  sir;  you  can  have  all  in  the  churn  if 
you  want  it." 

Not  long  after  leaving  there,  I  found  Mr.  Miller 
in  his  field,  and  shot  him.  After  night  I  found  Mr. 
Johnson  at  home,  took  him  out  of  the  house,  and 
cut  off  his  head  with  my  bowie  knife. 

The  reader  will  perceive  that  the  threats  of  John 
son  would  have  been  completely  reversed  if  I  had 
carried  his  head  to  his  wife  swinging  to  the  horn  of 
my  saddle  ;  but  instead  of  imitating  his  designs  any 
further,  I  leisurely  pursued  my  way  home  to  our 
headquarters  in  Green  county,  Arkansas. 

On  the  next  day  after  my  arrival  at  home,  Capt. 
Bolin  called  on  me  and  stated  that  he  wished  us  all 
to  meet  him  at  headquarters  that  evening  at  three 
o'clock.  At  the  time  appointed  I  was  there,  and  so 
were  about  forty  more  of  the  boys,  most  of  whom 
had  just  returned  from  their  various  scouts. 

The  Captain  seemed  a  little  agitated,  and  for  sev 
eral  minutes  after  we  were  all  assembled  he  did  not 
say  a  word.  Presently  he  began,  and  these  are 
about  his  words: 

"GENTLEMEN;    It  is  my  wish  that    we    remain 


280  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   Of 

quietly  at  headquarters  a  few  days  until  my  other 
scouting  parties'  return. 

"I  wish  to  say  to  you  now  that,  in  my  opinion? 
this  war  has  virtually  closed.  General  Lee,  the 
great  head  and  front  of  all  our  hopes,  as  you  are 
already  aware,  was  compelled  to  succumb  to  supe 
rior  numbers,  and  surrender  on  the  12th  day  of 
April.  General  Johnston  surrendered  on  the  18th 
of  the  same  month.  The  hopes  held  out  by  General 
Kirby  Smith  in  his  general  order  issued  at  Shreve- 
port  can  never  be  realized. 

"The  Southern  Confederacy  is  at  an  end;  our 
course  must  be  governed  by  circumstances  over 
which  we  have  no  control. 

"The  course  we  have  pursued  during  the  struggle 
is  only  justified  by  the  fact  that  a  great  war  existed. 
While  the  eyes  of  the  world  have  been  riveted  on 
great  actors  and  on  events  of  an  astounding  mag 
nitude,  the  minor  details  of  the  struggle  have  been 
overlooked.  That  condition  of  affairs  now  no  longer 
exists;  the  war  has  ceased,  and  our  operations  must 
cease  also. 

"Finally,  it  is  my  request  that  each  and  every 
one  of  you  submit  manfully  to  the  same  terms  that 
have  been  forced  upon  our  great  chieftains ;  that  is: 
Lay  down  your  arms,  surrender  on  parole,  and  re 
turn  to  the  pursuits  of  peace." 

This  little  speech  fell  like  a  wet  blanket  on  most 
of  the  men,  and  I  must  confess  that  I  was  one  of 
jthat  number;  but  we  held  Capt,  Bolin  in  such  high 


SAMUEL   S.   HiLDEBKAND.  281 

esteem  that  not  a  murmur  of  dissent  was  suffered 
to  drop  from  the  lips  of  any  of  his  men. 

On  the  next  day,  however,  the  matter  was  fully 
discussed  in  every  camp.  Nine-tenths  of  the  men 
fully  indorsed  the  statements  made  by  our  noble 
captain,  and  I  could  not  but  acknowledge  that  his 
reasoning  seemed  plausible  ;  yet  I  was  annoyed  be 
yond  all  measure  by  the  reflection  that  the  war  had 
suddenly  ceased  before  I  was  done  fighting. 

I  cared  not  so  much  about  the  general  result.  I 
knew  but  little,  and  cared  still  less,  about  the  great 
political  problem  that  the  war  was  supposed  to 
have  solved,  nor  to  the  technical  question  discussed 
by  old  fossil  statesmen,  whether  the  States  formed 
the  Union  or  the  Union  formed  the  States,  whether 
the  South  had  inherent  rights  or  whether  inherent 
rights  had  the  South,  whether  the  General  Govern 
ment  was  a  restricted  agent  of  the  people,  or 
whether  the  people  were  the  restricted  agents  of 
the  General  Government. 

These  questions  probably  originated  with  the 
antediluvians,  and  they  ought  to  have  been  left  to 
a  committee  of  twelve  Egyptian  mummies,  with  the 
"  man  in  the  moon  "  foi»  chairman. 

The  practical  question  with  me  was,  whether  all 
the  scoundrels  in  the  nation  were  yet  killed  off  or 
not.  As  far  as  my  knowledge  extended,  the  war 
had  only  gobbled  up  about  one-tenth  of  them. 

Most  of  those  men  who  had  composed  the  Vigil 
ance  mob  on  Big  river  were  yet  alive.  They  were 
in  the  centre  of  military  camps,  crawling  around 


282  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

the  feet  of  Federal  officers,  and  whining  for  protec 
tion  against  my  vengeance. 

To  reach  them  it  would  be  necessary  to  overthrow 
the  Federal  power ;  just  that  far  my  heart  was  in 
the  National  war. 

My  mind  was  troubled  by  the  reflection  that  as 
soon  as  the  war  should  be  ended,  all  those  cowardly 
miscreants  would  crawl  out  from  their  hiding  places, 
boast  of  their  loyalty,  make  a  grand  rush  for  office, 
swing  their  hats,  and  cry  out :  "  Well,  didn't  we  whip 
them?"- 

I  made  up  my  mind  that,  for  my  part,  I  would 
take  as  many  of  the  boys  as  were  determined  never 
to  surrender,  escape  to  Texas  if  possible,  fight  under 
Gen.  Kirby  Smith  until  he  should  surrender,  and 
then  make  our  way  into  Mexico — there  to  annoy 
the  Federal  Government  all  I  could  until  I  could 
get  another  "  whack  "  at  my  old  enemies. 

I  thought,  however,  that  I  would  consult  my  wife 
for  once,  and  see  what  she  thought  about  it.  She 
looked  serious  for  a  minute,  and  then  burst  out  into 
a  laugh. 

"I  once  heard  about  some  little  boys,"  said  she, 
u  who  were  left  at  home  by  their  parents,  who  had 
gone  to  church.  One  of  them  discovered  a  rat 
which  had  taken  refuge  under  a  pile  of  lumber  in 
the  yard ;  but  the  boys  tore  away  the  lumber,  split 
ting  about  half  the  boards.  The  rat  then  ran  under 
the  ash-hopper,  and  when  that  was  torn  down  it 
took  refuge  under  the  barn  floor.  One  of  the  boys 
ran  to  the  house  for  matches,  in  order  to  burn  out 


SAMUEL    S.    111LDEBKAND.  2i& 

the  rat ;  but  his  little  sister,  the  youngest  one  in  the 
crowd,  cried  out:  'If  you  burn  the  rat  we  will  have 
no  barn  ! '  The  boys  saw  the  force  of  her  reasoning, 
and  made  peace  with  the  rat.  So  I  would  advise 
you  to  make  no  further  efforts  toward  destroying 
the  Federal  barn  for  such  a  purpose." 

I  must  confess  that  this  little  speech  from  my  wife, 
given  in  such  good  humor,  contained  a  little  more 
good  sense  than  anything  I  had  heard  for  a  long 
time. 

It  sounded  a  little  like  a  Union  speech,  and 
seemed  strange  on  that  account;  but,  although  I 
had  not  at  first  the  least  idea  of  ever  swerving  from 
my  purpose,  yet  I  now  determined  to  follow  her  ad 
vice,  for  I  concluded  that  as  she  had  waded  through 
the  hardships  of  war  with  a  devotion  to  me  that  has 
but  few  parallels  in  the  history  of  mankind,  I  ought 
to  respect  her  comfort  as  well  as  my  own. 

On  the  next  day  I  told  Capt.  Bolin  that  I  con 
sented  to  his  arrangement.  He  started  on  to  Jack- 
sonport  to  give  in  the  list  of  his  men,  and  I  started 
a  few  days  afterwards  to  the  same  place,  and  re 
ceived  my  parole  on  the  26th  day  of  May,  1865,  the 
very  day  on  which  General  Kirby  Smith  surrendered 
at  Shreveport. 

The  war  now  being  over,  I  tried  to  banish  the  sub 
ject  from  my  mind  as  much  as  possible,  and  soon 
went  to  work  on  the  place  I  still  occupied,  for  no 
owner  had  yet  returned  to  claim  it.  Most  of  our 
men  were  afraid  to  return  to  their  homes  in  Mis 
souri  while  a  remembrance  of  our  depredations 


284:  ALTGBIQGRAl'HY   OF 

were  still  fresh  in  the  minds  of  the  people,  and 
went  to  farming  in  different  parts  of  Green  county. 

With  what  I  captured  during  the  war  I  did  not 
have  more  than  half  as  much  property  as  I  had  lost 
by  the  hands  of  the  Vigilance  mob  in  Missouri. 

One  might  suppose  that,  from  the  name  my  ene 
mies  gave  me,  I  might  have  grown  rich  by  my  dep 
redations  during  the  war;  but  such  was  not  the 
fact;  plunder  was  only  a  secondary  consideration 
with  me ;  I  resorted  to  it  merely  to  sustain  myself 
while  I  pursued  my  main  leading  object — that  of 
killing  my  enemies. 

We  sustained  ourselves  during  the  whole  war  off 
of  our  enemies.  If  objections  are  made  to  that 
kind  of  warfare,  I  can  point  to  the  exaniple  of  Sher 
man,  in  Georgia,  and  to  a  host  of  other  Federal 
commanders,  both  great  and  small,  even  down  to 
that  pigmy  lump  of  insignificance— the  Big  Kiver 
Militia.  But,  unlike  those  illustrious  examples,  we 
did  not  charge  our  government  with  anything  we 
captured  ;  neither  was  I  a  burden  to  the  Confeder 
acy  to  the  amount  of  one  dollar ;  neither  did  I  ever 
stoop  so  low  as  to  become  an  incendiary,  and  burn 
out  my  enemies.  I  left  that  for  the  Indians  to  do, 
and  for  those  who  saw  proper  to  imitate  them. 

So,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  and  in  fact  during  its 
whole  continuance,  I  was  poor,  and  my  family  were 
in  straitened  circumstances;  but  I  went  to  work 
and  raised  a  good  crop  of  corn  and  everything  else 
that  we  needed.  In  the  spring  of  1866  I  rented  an 
other  place  in  a  better  locality,  and  farmed  on  a 


SAMUEL   S.   IlILUEBRAJSB.  2S5 

larger  scale.  This  I  also  did  on  the  year  following, 
and  at  the  close  of  1867  I  had  succeeded  in  render 
ing  myself  and  family  as  comfortable  as  could  be 
expected. 

The  negro  boy  I  had  taken  from  Free  Jim,  in  St. 
Francois  county,  still  remained  with  me ;  he  was 
free,  I  suppose,  but  he  seemed  to  prefer  good  living 
and  light  work  to  "free  starvation." 


ACIuBlOGUAPHY    OF 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

Imprisoned  in  Jacksonport  jail. — Mrs.  Kildebrand  returns  to 
M:-:-OT:ri. — Escape  from  prison. — Final  settlement  in  Ste. 
Gene  'ieve  county. — St.  Louis  detectives  make  their  first 
trip  —The  Governor's  reward. — Wounded  by  Peterson. — Re 
moved  to  his  uncle's. — Fight  at  John  Williams'. — Kills  James 
McLrine. — Hides  in  a  cave. 

Ear\v  in  the  spring  of  1868  I  put  in  a  good  crop  of 
corn,  and  do  voted  much  of  my  time  to  gardening; 
my  r>rosr>ect  looked  flattering  indeed;  and  I  fancied 
that  I  vv-as  getting  along  as  well  as  any  of  rny  neigh 
bors,  and  better  than  most  of  them.  My  negro  man 
worked  cheerfully,  and  I  put  in  much  of  my  time  in 
u  overseeing."  I  claim  that  I  was  the  last  slave 
holder  in  the  United  States. 

,\  circumstance  now  took  place  that  destroyed 
mv  future  prospect,  and  cast  a  shadow  over  the 
happiness  of  my  family.  It  is  a  circumstance  that 
I  deeply  deplore,  and  one,  too,  that  I  cou-d  easily 
have  avoided,  at  the  expense,  perhaps,  of  losing  one 
friend. 

Early  in  the  month  of  April  one  of  my  old  war 
associates,  with  whom  I  had  passed  many  a  hardship, 
came  to  my  house  and  stated  that  he  had  received 
bad  news  from  home;  that  his  sister  had  been  de 
serted  by  her  husband  without  any  cause,  and  that 
the  fellow  had  taken  up  with  a  negro  woman,  and 
was  living  with  her  not  more  than  ten  miles  off. 


SAMUEL   S.   IIILDEBRASD.  2$1 

He  requested  that  I  should  aid  him  in  taKjng  the 
couple  out  and  giving  them  a  good  flogging. 

The  matter  was  talked  over,  and  one  of  us  might 
have  made  the  remark  that  they  deserved  to  be  tied 
together.  This  conversation  was  heard  by  the  wife 
of  my  friend;  two  or  three  days  after  which  the 
guilty  pair  were  taken  from  a  mill  pond,  drowned, 
and  still  tied  together.  After  the  first  excitement 
was  over,  nothing  more  was  heard  about  the  matter 
for  nearly  six  weeks.  My  friend's  wife  told  all  about 
the  conversation,  and  suspicion  rested  upon  us. 

Finally  Major  Surge,  with  three  men,  arrested  us, 
and  took  us  before  the  authorities  ;  the  preliminary 
examination  was  had,  and  we  were  both  lodged  in 
the  jail  at  Jacksonport. 

We  were  secured  by  handcuffs  and  by  ball  and 
chain.  In  this  condition  it  soon  became  apparent 
to  us  that  our  escape  was  impossible.  Negroes  fre 
quently  passed  our  prison,  and  told  us  that  we 
would  be  hung  by  a  mob. 

We  were  loaded  with  chains,  and  so  strongly 
guarded  that  I  began  to  doubt  the  ability  of  our 
friends  to  release  us,  even  if  they  should  attempt  it; 
in  fact  I  began  very  strongly  to  doubt  the  proba 
bility  of  their  ever  coming  at  all. 

In  June,  my  brother  William,  who  had  served 
during  the  war  in  the  Union  army,  came  down  to 
Arkansas,  where  my  family  was,  for  the  purpose  of 
taking  them  back  to  Big  river,  in  Missouri;  for  t=ie 
probabilities  were  that  my  wife  would  soon  be  left 
a  widow.  She  sold  the  crop  as  it  stood  on  the 


288  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

ground  for  what  she  could  get,  and  hired  a  teamster 
to  haul  the  family  to  Big  river. 

She  made  the  trip  in  safety;  arriving  at  the  old 
homestead,  she  lived  with  my  mother  and  brother 
William.  My  prison  life  every  day  became  more 
intolerable,  I  had  been  in  jail  for  four  months,  and 
had  almost  abandoned  all  hopes  of  being  released. 

On  the  last  day  of  August,  as  I  lay  brooding  over 
my  helpless  condition,  some  one,  about  dark,  whis 
pered  in  through  the  grates,  telling  me  to  be  of 
good  cheer,  for  that  on  the  following  night  his 
friends  were  going  to  make  an  attempt  to  release 
me. 

Fortunately  for  us,  as  our  friends  lay  in  wait  on 
the  next  night,  a  boat  landed  at  the  wharf,  which 
attracted  the  attention  of  all  those  who  were  yet 
up,  and  we  were  let  out  without  any  disturbance 
whatever. 

I  was  so  overjoyed  at  the  idea  of  being  free  once 
more,  that  I  leaped  off  the  platform  in  the  dark  and 
sprained  my  ankle.  I  was  in  a  bad  fix  for  traveling, 
but  we  were  soon  out  of  danger.  I  rode  until  daylight; 
then  we  all  scattered,  and  each  one  took  his  own 
course.  I  hobbled  on  in  this  way,  living  on  nothing 
but  May-apples  until  I  made  about  thirty-five  miles, 
to  the  house  of  an  old  friend,  where  I  remained 
until  I  recruited  up,  and  then  I  started  to  where  my 
family  was,  in  Missouri.  I  found  them  at  my 
mother's  residence,  on  Big  river;  but  after  remain 
ing  a  few  weeks,  finding  that  my  presence  was  any 
thing  but  pleasing  to  my  old  enemies  i  removed  to 


SAMUEL   S.   HILDEBRAND.  289 

Illinois  and  settled  on  the  Mississippi,  about  forty 
miles  below  St.  Louis.  Here  I  went  to  chopping 
cord  wood  for  a  livelihood,  not  intending  to  molest 
any  one,  as  the  war  was  over,  and  fully  determined 
to  withhold  my  hand  from  the  commission  of  any 
act  that  would  indicate  anything  else  than  that  I 
was  a  peaceable  and  law-abiding  citizen. 

In  January,  1869, 1  moved  across  the  river  on  to 
the  Missouri  side,  at  a  place  called  Rush  Tower,  and 
continued  cutting  wood  until  the  first  of  April,  at 
which  time  I  rented  a  small  farm  of  Samuel  B.  Her- 
rod,  on  the  Three  Rivers,  in  Ste.  Genevieve  county, 
near  the  county  line  of  St.  Francois,  and  about  four 
miles  from  Big  River  Mills.  To  this  place  I  moved 
my  family.  My  oldest  boy  was  twelve,  years  old, 
and  on  him  devolved  most  of  the  labor  on  the  farm. 

My  arrival  seemed  to  create  a  panic  among  those 
who  had  robbed  me,  killed  my  brothers,  and  perse 
cuted  my  family.  They  still  had  a  fear  of  retribu 
tive  justice>  and  though  I  had  no  such  designs,  they 
secretly  went  to  work  to  effect  my  destruction. 

Joe  McGahan,  as  I  am  informed,  took  several 
trips  to  influence  the  Governor  of  Missouri  to  crush 
me  out  of  existence.  Gov.  McClurg  instructed  Col. 
Myers,  Police  Commissioner  of  St.  Louis,  to  send 
out  men  for  my  arrest.  In  May,  1869,  he  sent  Mc 
Queen  and  Col.  Bowen,  who  were  met  at  Irondale 
by  Joe  McGahan,  to  pilot  them  to  the  scene  of 
operations.  On  going  about  ten  miles,  however, 
daylight  overtook  them,  and  McGahan,  after  inform 
ing  them  that  to  be  seen  there  in  daylight  would  be 
13 


290  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

death  to  him,  went  on  home  and  never  returned. 
At  the  approach  of  night  the  detectives  were 
obliged  to  proceed  without  a  guide,  on  foot,  and  in  a 
strange  neighborhood.  After  wandering  around  all 
night,  wading  Big  river  at  a  deep  ford,  they  were 
obliged  to  pass  another  day  in  the  woods.  AM  they 
could  not  find  my  house  without  some  further  infor 
mation,  one  of  them,  disguised  as  a  rude  country 
man  in  search  of  employment,  got  all  the  informa 
tion  he  wanted.  It  appears  that  those  two  detectives 
watched  around  my  house  for  eight  days  and  nights. 
Their  provisions  then  gave  out,  and  not  being  able 
to  get  any  from  my  enemies,  they  started  back  to 
Irondale  at  ten  o'clock  at  night,  arid  from  there  took 
the  cars  for  St.  Louis.  While  this  was  going  on  I 
was  working  at  the  mouth  of  Isle  Bois  on  the  Missis 
sippi. 

It  appears  that  some  time  during  the  war  Gover 
nor  Fletcher  had  offered  a  reward  of  three  hundred 
dollars  for  my  capture. 

This  and  other  rewards  which  were  offered 
was  the  price  of  blood — an  inducement  held  out  for 
assassination !  Men  can  be  found,  who,  for  a  cer 
tain  reward,  will  shoot  any  man  down  whom  a  Gov 
ernor  may  designate. 

Thank  God,  I  have  never  come  to  that  yet!  I 
have  killed  many  men,  but  it  has  always  been  either 
in  self-defense,  or  for  the  purpose  of  redressing  some 
terrible  wrong. 

Some  persons  wrote  to  Governor  McClurg  to  as 
certain  whether  the  reward  was  still  valid;  on 


SAMUEL   S.   HILDEBRAXD.  291 

being  answered  in  the  affirmative,  they  determined, 
even  for  that  paltry  sum,  to  attempt  my  assassin 
ation.  James  McLaine,  as  he  afterwards  boasted, 
prowled  around  my  house  for  one  whole  month  for 
that  purpose. 

On  the  night  of  June  6th,  1869,  I  ventured  up  to 
my  house  at  a  late  hour  to  see  my  family,  and  re 
mained  with  them  all  night.  In  the  morning  I 
stepped  out  into  the  yard,  when  I  heard  the  report 
of  a  gun  from  a  cluster  of  hazel  brush  about  eighty 
yards  off.  I  went  into  the  house  for  my  gun,  and 
discovered  that  I  had  been  shot  through  the  fleshy 
part  of  my  thigh. 

On  going  out  I  could  discover  no  one,  the  person 
having  left  as  soon  as  he  fired,  so  1  went  into  Mr. 
Pratt's  stable,  a  short  distance  off.  Presently  Mc 
Laine  passed  by  with  his  gun  ;  after  going  up  to  my 
house,  he  came  back  and  passed  along  the  road  not 
far  from  the  stable.  Believing  him  to  be  the  assas 
sin,  I  would  have  shot  him,  but  was  prevented  by 
Mr.  Pratt. 

I  was  hauled  to  the  house  of  William  M.  Highley, 
who  went  after  a  physician  to  have  my  wound 
Sressed.  The  wound  proved  to  be  a  very  serious 
one,  and  disabled  me  for  a  long  time  in  such  a  man 
ner  that  I  was  unable  to  walk.  I  was  next  hauled 
to  Samuel  Gossom's,  and  then  to  the  residence  of 
my  uncle,  John  Williams.  As  this  became  the  scene 
of  a  furious  battle  a  few  days  afterwards,  I  shall  be 
a  little  minute  in  my  description.  My  uncle's  fam 
ily  consisted  of  himself,  Aunt  Mary  and  a  grand- 


292  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

daughter  about  six  years  of  age.  His  house  is 
among  the  hills  in  the  western  part  of  St.  Francois 
county,  five  miles  from  Big  River  Mills,  and  one 
mile  due  south  from  the  stone  house  formerly  occu 
pied  by  Dick  Berryman.  My  uncle's  premises  con- 
jsisted  of  one  log  house,  one  story  high,  and  contain- 
ing  but  one  room.  In  the  yard,  west  of  the  house 
stood  an  old  dilapidated  cabin  with  the  chimney 
torn  down,  near  which  stood  the  smoke-house  and  a 
cluster  of  young  cherry  trees.  Opposite  the  south 
end  of  the  house,  at  a  distance  of  about  eighty 
yards,  was  the  spring  house. 

I  suffered  much  from  my  wound  ;  and  as  my  well 
known  crippled  condition  emboldened  parties  after 
wards  to  attempt  my  arrest,  under  the  assumption 
that  I  was  just  about  dead,  I  attribute  all  my  suf 
ferings  and  privations  during  the  three  months  that 
followed  to  that  attempted  assassination.  For  many 
months  afterwards  I  believed  that  it  was  James 
McLaine  who  did  the  deed,  but  I  will  here  state 
that  the  man  who  shot  me,  as  I  am  informed,  was 
Cyrus  A.  Peterson,  from  Fredericktown,  and  that 
Walter  E.  Evans  was  along  with  him. 

Neither  of  those  two  men  did  I  ever  harm ;  Petei 
son  I  did  not  know,  and  Evans  I  had  met  a  few 
weeks  before,  and  shook  hands  with  him. 

The  Evans  family  resided  on  Big  river,  and  we 
were  raised  up  within  a  few  miles  of  each  other. 
The  widow  and  her  daughter  remained  at  home  in  per 
fect  safety  during  the  whole  war,  although  the  family 
was  known  to  be  Union  (with  one  or  two  exceptions), 


SAMUEL   S.   HILDEBRAND. 

and  two  of  her  boys,  Ellis  G.  and  William  C  Ev 
were  known  to  be  two  of  the  most  urn-oni}  mm 
Unionists  in  the  State.     I  heard  Di«  k  Bern  man 
once  tell  his  men,  after  calling  them  all  up  in  a  line, 
that  he  would  not  suffer  them  to  interfere  with  the 
widow  Evans,  or  with  any  property  that  she  pos 
sessed.    This  order  I  sanctioned,  and  governed  my 
self  accordingly. 

While  I  still  lay  at  my  uncle's,  confined  to  my  bed, 
Sheriff  Breckinridge  and  a  party  of  about  six  men 
concluded  that  they  would  secure  the  reward  offered 
by  the  Governor  without  any  personal  danger,  as  it 
it  was  thought  by  some  that  I  had  died  of  my  wounds. 

During  the  night  he  went  with  his  party  to  Mr. 
Highley's,  and*got  near  the  house  by  keeping  be 
hind  a  gate-post.  Mr.  Highley  was  called  out,  and 
when  he  assured  them  that  I  was  not  there  they 
made  a  valiant  charge  upon  the  h  ,  and  entered 
it  just  as  Mrs.  Highley  was  endeavoring  to  put  on 
her  dress.  The  gallant  Breckinridge  thrust  his -gun 
against  her  dress  and  threw  it  to  the  other  side  of 
the  room,  denoting  thereby  that  cowardice  and  ruf 
fianism  are  blended  together.  From  here  they  went 
on  the  balance  of  the  night  in  search  of  "Sam  Hil- 
debrand  " — and  they  found  him  ! 

They  reached  Uncle  William's  about  daylight. 
Finding  him  at  the  crib  they  made  a  breastwork  of 
him,  by  making  the  old  man  walk  in  front,  while 
they  marched  on  behind  with  their  guns  presented. 
I  fastened  the  front  door  and  refused  to  open  it 
The  back  door,  however,  was  only  latched,  and  a 


291  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

child  could  have  opened  it.  I  pulled  a  little  rag 
out  of  a  crack  near  the  jamb,  and  as  they  attempted 
to  pass  I  fired  four  shots  at  them  before  they  fired 
at  all ;  one  tumbled  up  behind  the  ash-hopper,  and 
the  others  dashed  back  around  the  corner  to  the 
front  side  of  the  house.  They  fired  several  shots 
through  the  door,  which  struck  the  wall  at  the  back 
of  the  house  a  few  inches  over  the  bed  where  the 
little  girl  lay.  She  raised  a  terrible  yell ;  Aunt 
Mary  ran  to  her,  supposing  that  she  had  been  shot. 
"  Come  away  with  her,"  said  I,  "  and  both  of  you 
stand  in  yon  corner ;  break  her  a  piece  of  pie  to 
stop  her  crying,  so  that  I  can  hear  what  is  going 
on."  I  got  two  more  shots  through  the  crack  near 
the  chimney,  one  of  which  was  at  Noah  Williams; 
he  got  in  the  chimney  corner,  and  was  hunting  for 
a  crack,  but  I  found  it  first,  and  sent  a  shot  after 
him  that  raked  across  his  breast,  and  tore  his 
clothes  in  such  a  manner  that  he  left  in  disgust. 
They  kept  firing  through  the  door  ;  the  beds  were 
literally  riddled ;  aunt  got  a  shot  on  her  chin ;  a 
whole  volley  was  now  fired  through  the  door  ;  one 
little  shot  struck  her  on  the  head,  and  five  holes 
were  shot  through  her  dress. 

They  now  marched  the  old  man  in  front  of  them  to 
the  door;  he  stood  with  his  right  hand  against  the 
door-facing,  and  cried  out :  '*  Sam,  open  the  door  or 
they  will  kill  me!" 

"Hold  on,  Uncle,"  I  replied,  "and  step  out  of  the 
way." 

Just  then  I  opened  the  door,  and   crossing   my 


SAMUEL    S.    II  LDEBRA:N7D.  205 

arms  I  fired  to  the  right  and  Left  with  my  pistols. 
Uncle's  hand  being  in  the  way,  I  could  only  shoot 
Breckinridge  through  the  groin,  and  another  man 
through  the  shoulder. 

Andy  Bean  broke  to  run,  and  jumped  the  fence 
by  a  walnut  tree  just  as  a  shot  passed  through  his 
fiery  red  whiskers,  grazing  his  face  sufficiently  to 
saturate  them,  and  to  make  him  believe  that  they 
were  one  huge  stream  of  blood.  The  whole  party 
now  broke,  and  on  leaping  the  fence  fired  off  their 
guns,  some  of  their  shots  piercing  the  door,  one 
passed  through  my  uncle's  wrist,  some  struck  the 
house,  and  some  missed  creation. 

The  man  wounded  in  the  shoulder  was  taken  to 
the  spring  to  have  water  poured  on  his  wound, 
Breckinridge  to  Frank  Simms  to  have  his  life  writ 
ten,  and  Andy  Bean  to  Irondale  to  have  the  arteries 
of  his  whiskers  taken  up.  Aunt  Mary  now  brought 
me  a  bucket  of  water  and  left,  after  telling  me  that 
there  were  provisions  enough  in  the  house  to  last  a 
week. 

Telegraphic  dispatches  were  sent  to  St.  Louis, 
Potosi  and  Farmington  for  more  men.  James  Mc- 
Laine  and  Dennis  O'Leary  came  from  Farmington, 
and  Captain  Todd  Hunter  with  eight  or  ten  men 
came  from  Potosi  and  Irondale,  and,  from  a  hill  two 
hundred  yards  off,  kept  up  an  occasional  fire  at  the 
house  during  the  balance  of  the  day.  The  party 
behind  the  spring  house  were  compelled  to  remain 
there  on  account  of  my  shots;  they,  however,  kept 
up  a  random  fire,  to  show  to  their  anxious  compan- 


296  AUTOBIOGKAPiJY  OP 

ions  that  they  were  not  yet  dead.  They  once  held 
a  hat  around  the  corner  of  the  spring  house,  and 
instantly  got  a  hole  shot  through  it. 

While  the  firing  still  continued,  I  tried  my  hand 
at  cooking  my  dinner.  After  eating  a  hearty  meal 
and  resting  myself  a  little,  I  went  on  duty  again. 

About  sunset  McLaine  climbed  upon  the  old 
cabin  near  the  house,  but  as  there  were  three  walls 
between  us,  the  cracks  did  not  range  right  for  me  to 
shoot  him.  After  he  had  kindled  a  fire  on  the  roof 
he  came  down  and  stood  near  the  door  on  the  far 
side  of  the  cabin.  I  got  a  glimpse  of  his  body,  and 
by  a  lucky  chance  I  shot  him  dead. 

This  created  such  an  excitement  that,  as  they 
crowded  around  his  body,  which  they  carried  a  short 
distance,  I  opened  the  back  door,  and  unperceived 
by  any  of  them,  crawled  out  through  the  weeds  and 
through  the  fence.  Here  I  had  to  leave  my  gun,  as 
I  could  not  carry  it,  for  I  could  not  walk  a  step  on 
account  of  my  wounded  leg.  I  crawled  through  the 
woods  about  two  miles,  for  darkness  now  favored 
my  escape,  and  arriving  at  the  house  of  a  friend,  I 
obtained  a  horse  and  rode  to  my  sister's  (Mrs. 
Adams),  living  near  the  old  homestead  of  the  Hilde- 
brand  family. 

It  was  necessary  that  I  should  keep  in  a  cool 
place  on  account  of  my  wound,  so  I  went  into  my 
cave  in  the  Big  river  bluff,  half  a  mile  north  from 
the  residence  of  G.  W.  Murphy,  and  near  the  Pike 
Run  hills,  where  I  remained  some  time,  my  provis 
ions  being  brought  to  me  every  day  by  my  sister. 


SAMUEL   S.    HILDEBRAND.  29) 

My  wife  and  children  still  remained  on  the  Herrod 
place,  where  they  were  watched  so  closely  that 
they  could  not  come  to  my  assistance 


300  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

Military  operations  for  his  capture. — Col.  Bowen  captures  the 
Cave. — Progress  of  the  campaign. — Advent  of  Gov.  McClurg. 
— The  militia  called  out. — Don  Quixote  affair  at  the  Brick 
Church. — The  campaign  ended. — Mrs  Hildebrand  escapes  to 
Illinois. — "Sam"  leaves  Missouri. — His  final  proclamation. 

My  narrative  would  not  be  complete  without  a 
history  of  the  military  operations  carried  on  .by  au 
thority  of  the  State  government  for  my  capture  or 
destruction ;  yet  I  must  depend  almost  exclusively 
upon  what  my  friends  told  me  from  time  to  time  as 
those  events  were  transpiring. 

A  few  days  after  the  fight  at  Williams',  a  detective 
with  a  dirty  face  and  hair  uncombed;  riding  an  old 
mule,  with  a  pack  saddle  and  blind  bridle,  went  to 
Big  River  Mills,  and  inquired  of  Dr.  Keith  and 
Samuel  B.  Herrod  where  "  Sam  Hildebrand "  was, 
as  he  was  an  old  "war  chum  "  whom  he  wanted  to 
assist.  His  ragged  coat  and  old  hat  condemned  him 
at  once  as  a  detective,  for  we  were  in  the  habit  of 
dressing  well  during  the  war,  as  our  credit  was  al 
ways  good  while  we  were  well  armed.  He  failed  to 
elicit  any  information  from  them ;  in  fact  at  this 
time  I  was  nursing  my  wounds  in  the  cave,  and  the 
dismal  scene  of  my  suffering  was  only  visited  by 
that  angel  of  mercy,  a  kind  sister. 

It  appears  that  the  Police  Commissioner  of  St. 


SAMUEL    S.    HILPEBRAND.  80l 

Louis  sent  Col.  Bowen,  McQueen,  Schuster  and 
Wadkins  on  a  second  expedition  against  me.  They 
were  joined  at  Irondale  by  Hughes,  King,  Fatchet 
and  Zoleman ;  and  on  Big  river  by  Joe  McGahan 
and  Dennis  O'Leary. 

Col.  Bowen,  with  his  men,  went  to  the  house  of 
my  sister  on  the  21st  day  of  June,  just  before  day 
light,  and  questioned  her  about  where  I  was.  My 
sister  of  course  refused  to  answer  any  of  their  ques 
tions,  but  on  threatening  to  hang  two  of  her  young 
est  boys,  one  of  them  divulged  all  that  he  knew. 

On  the  evening  of  the  22d  the  party  arrested 
William  Harris,  my  brother-in-law,  also  Mr.  Cash 
and  Mr.  Dunham,  and  hung  them  up  by  the  neck 
until  they  extorted  from  them  the  fact  that  I  lived 
in  a  cave  in  a  certain  bluff  which  they  described. 
This  bluff  rises  perpendicularly  nearly  three  hun 
dred  feet  above  the  waters  of  Big  river,  which  runs 
at  its  base.  A  skirt  of  high  timber  on  the  margin 
of  the  river  in  a  great  measure  hides  the  bold  front 
of  this  towering  mass  of  rock  from  view. 

The  cave  can  be  seen  neither  from  the  top  nor 
bottom,  for  it  is  about  two  hundred  feet  from  the 
bottom,  and  is  hid  by  a  projecting  rock  in  front. 
From  the  cave  in  one  direction  along  the  seam  in 
the  rock  there  is  a  narrow  and  very  difficult  cause 
way  running  several  hundred  yards  where  it  can  be 
approached  from  above  and  below.  This  narrow 
turnpike  can  easily  be  defended  by  one  man  against 
five  hundred.  I  regret  that  I  was  not  in  my  castle 
when  Col.  Bowen  and  his  posse  were  prowling 


302  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   Of1 

around  in  front  of  the  cave  on  the  morning  of  the 
23d,  I  would  have  had  more  fun  than  I  did  at  Wil 
liams'  house,  where  they  had  so  much  the  advantage 
of  me, 

I  retired  from  the  cave  during  the  night,  and  was 
absent  when  the  party  came  to  see  my  castle.  They 
remained  near  the  cave  all  day,  but  did  not  think  it 
prudent  to  peep  in  to  see  whether  I  was  at  home  or 
not.  On  the  following  night  they  built  a  large  fire 
on  the  projection  in  front  of  the  cavern,  and  kept  it 
supplied  with  wood  which  they  threw  from  the  top 
of  the  bluff. 

On  the  next  morning  they  learned  from  Mr.  Nash, 
whom  they  hung  by  the  neck  awhile,  that  I  was  nob 
in  the  cave. 

On  receiving  this  welcome  information  the  party 
scaled  the  bluff  and  took  the  whole  place  by  storm. 
The  next  move  to  capture  me  was  through  a  confes 
sion  made  by  a  son  of  Mr.  Nash,  that  he  was  to 
meet  me  at  a  certain  point  at  night  with  a  quart  of 
whisky. 

Col.  Bowen  determined  to  capture  me  and  the 
"quart"  so  he  and  his  party  reconnoitered  the  place 
for  several  hours,  but  I  kept  two  hundreds  yards  from 
them.  They  were  welcome  to  the  whisky,  for  I  con 
sidered  it  my  treat;  and  after  taking  a  hearty  drink 
from  the  branch  I  went  away  perfectly  satisfied. 

After  the  capture  of  my  cave.  Col.  Bowen  made 
his  headquarters  at  G.  W.  Murphy's.  There  of  course 
he  lived  well ;  the  boys  were  all  happy,  drawing 
good  wages  and  incurring  no  danger,  for  I  solemnly 


SAMUEL   S.   111LDEBKAND.  305 

promised  my  friends  that  I  would  not  kill  a  single 
one  of  them  unless  they  should  indeed  discover  me. 
The  first  time  I  saw  Col.  Bowen  after  his  removal  to 
Murphy's  was  three  or  four  days  after  he  had  cap 
tured  the  bluff.  I  was  aiming  to  cross  the  road  two 
or  three  hundred  yards  east  of  Murphy's  house, 
when  on- getting  in  a  small  glade  fifteen  steps  from 
the  road  I  heard  horses'  feet  coming  from  the  direc 
tion  of  Big  River  Mills.  I  stood  behind  a  cedar 
bush  with  a  cocked  pistol  in  each  hand.  Col.  Bowen 
rode  by  me  with  two  of  his  men,  but  none  of  them 
turned  their  heads,  and  I  moved  around  the  bush  as 
they  passod. 

I  did  not  wish  to  hurt  them  ;  I  had  a  high  regard 
for  the  Colonel,  and  respected  him  for  his  magnan 
imity  in  not  burning  my  cave  after  he  had  captured 
it,  for  I  mtisf  say  that  he  was  the  first  man  who  ever 
drove  me  out  of  a  place  without  setting  it  on  fire. 

A  few  days  after  this  I  concluded  to  hobble  over 
to  where  my  family  was,  for  the  purpose  of  paying 
them  a  short  visit ;  but  on  passing  through  a  wheat 
field  I  was  discovered  by  a  certain  man  who  re 
ported  me.  Col.  Bowen  took  a  squad  of  men  to 
watch  around  my  house  at  night.  Before  arriving 
there  it  was  dark  and  raining;  and  as  I  heard  the 
tramp  of  their  horses  I  stepped  out  of  the  road  un 
til  they  had  passed.  I  followed  them  on  until  they 
got  near  the  house  and  commenced  placing  out  their 
pickets. 

After  the  campaign  had  continued  several  weeks, 
it  became  apparent  that  the  forces  already  in  the 


306  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

field  were  insufficient  for  my  capture ;  the  disloyalty 
of  the  people  of  St.  Francois  county  had  been  greatly 
magnified.  Certain  evil  men  in  the  neighborhood 
desired  nothing  so  much  as  a  pretext  for  martial 
law ;  some  of  them  had  rioted  in  murder  and  pillage 
during  the  war,  and  they  knew  that  in  all  civil  com 
motions  the  dregs  arise  to  the  top. 

Governor  McClurg  is  a  good  man ;  I  can  say  that 
much  for  him,  but  in  the  goodness  of  his  nature  he 
is  slow  in  detecting  the  evil  designs  of  some  of 
his  party  friends  who  live  in  the  under  current 
of  cunning  rascality.  To  show  the  tardiness  and 
disloyalty  of  the  civil  authorities  in  St.  Francois 
county,  Sheriff  Murphy  was  ordered,  just  as  the 
farmers  had  whetted  their  scythes  and  were  prepar 
ing  to  enter  their  harvest  fields,  to  call  out  the 
militia  throughout  the  county  to  aid  in  scouring  the 
woods.  To  the  mortification  of  the  plotters,  he  re 
sponded  and  the  people  turned  out. 

Then  the  report  was  started  that  I  was  concealed 
in  a  deep  mineral  shaft  among  the  Pike  Kun  Hills. 
Murphy  and  his  party  scrambled  over  that  terribLe 
country  until  every  snake  was  crushed  by  their 
feet. 

This  severe  ordeal  continued  for  two  or  three 
weeks  until  fortunately  the  Governor  made  his  ad 
vent  on  Big  river,  and  was  welcomely  received  by 
all  parties.  To  my  regret  I  was  out  of  the  ring ; 
however,  I  was  anxious  to  see  Governor  McClurg, 
for  I  had  never  yet  seen  a  Governor;  and  having 
been  informed  by  my  friends  that  he  would  make  a 


SAMUEL   S.   HJLDEBKAND.  307 

speech  in  Farmington  on  the  following  day,  I  posted 
myself  in  the  corner  of  a  fence  at  the  end  of  a  lane 
on  the  Green  place  about  five  miles  from  Farming- 
ton  and  watched  for  him  to  come  along,  knowing 
that  he  would  pass  on  that  road. 

I  did  not  intend  to  molest  him,  or  even  to  speak 
an  unkind  word;  but  I  was  anxious  that  he  might 
be  alone  so  that  I  could  step  out,  shake  him  by  the 
hand,  give  him  a  drink  out  of  my  bottle,  and  have  a 
social  chat. 

When  he  passed  me  he  was  riding  by  the  side  of 
a  Methodist  preacher  from  Caledonia,  named  Wil 
liams  ;  he  was  followed  by  a  train  of  about  forty 
men,  the  saints  being  in  front  and  the  sinners  in  the 
rear.  Not  liking  the  rear-guard  very  well,  I  did  not 
join  in  the  procession,  but  retired  further  back  in 
the  woods. 

Under  the  impression  that  the  Governor  would 
deliver  a  speech  at  the  court  house  that  night,  I  con 
cluded  that  I  would  go  and  hear  what  he  had  to  say 
about  me.  After  dark  I  made  my  way  to  town  and 
%creted  myself  opposite  the  court  house  door 
among  some  goods  boxes  near  Fleming's  store. 

I  saw  no  indications,  however,  of  a  public  meet 
ing;  I  made  a  motion  to  adjourn,  which  was  sec 
onded  by  a  large  woolly  dog  that  found  me  occupy 
ing  his  sleeping  apartment. 

I  ascertained  afterwards  that  McClurg  did  make  a 
speech  during  the  day,  and  that  it  was  anything  but 
flattering  to  me.  To  avoid  the  necessity  of  a  resort 
to  martial  law,  the  citizens  were  verv  clamorous  in 


308  ALTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

their  protestations  of  holy  horror  at  the  very  name 
of  Hildebrand.  They  passed  a  long  string  of  reso 
lutions;  the  first  declaring  that  "Sain  Hilderbrand 
ought  to  be  arrested;"  the  second  that  "it  would  be 
proper  to  arrest  Sam  Hilderbrand;"  the  third  "that 
to  arrest  Sam  Hilderbrand  would  be  a  good  idea ;" 
the  other  sixteen  resolutions  not  differing  materially 
from  the  first  three,  I  need  not  repeat. 

The  resolutions  being  read  to  me  a  few  days  after 
wards,  I  fully  sanctioned  them,  and  cruised  around 
several  days  myself,  in  search  of  deperadoes. 

Governor  McClurg  appointed  six  deputy  sheriffs 
for  St.  Francois  county;  their  number  was  after 
wards  increased  to  ten,  each  one  of  whom  were  al 
lowed  a  posse  of  ten  men,  by  which  arrangement  one 
hundred  men  would  be  in  active  service. 

In  order  to  create  the  impression  that  he  was  per 
forming  some  prodigious  deeds  of  valor,  Col.  Bowen 
pretended  to  have  fought  a  terrible  battle  single 
handed  with  "Sam  Hildebrand  and  his  men"  at  the 
Brick  Church  on  Big  river. 

I  have  heard  the  battle  at  the  Brick  Church  fr^ 
quently  mentioned,  and  I  have  a  word  to  say  in  re 
gard  to  that  matter.  I  was  not  there  myself,  neither 
was  any  of  my  friends  at  the  time  the  firing  took 
place. 

The  whole  tragedy  was  concocted  by  the  cunning 
of  Col.  Bowen  himself,  in  order  to  cut  a  figure  and 
stamp  himself  a  hero. 

I  could  easily  have  killed  him  at  any    ime  prev 
ious  to  this,  but  as  he  had  done  me  no  harm,  and  was 


SAMUEL   S.   HILDEBRAND.  309 

not  likely  to  do  any,  I  took  the  advice  of  my  friends 
and  let  him  peaceably  pursue  his  brilliant  cam 
paigns  for  the  sake  of  eclipsing  the  renown  of  Don 
Quixote. 

It  seems  that  two  of  his  men  had  stationed  them 
selves  in  the  brush  near  the  Brick  Church  by  the 
road  leading  from  his  headquarters  at  G.  W.  Mur 
phy's  to  Big  Kiver  Mills.  On  a  certain  evening  be 
tween  sunset  and  dark,  when  Sheriff  Murphy  and 
himself  were  riding  by  the  church  on  their  way 
from  Big  River  Mills,  those  two  men  in  ambush  fired 
off  their  guns.  The  valiant  Colonel  drew  out  his 
pistol  and  commenced  firing;  but  to  prevent  the 
sheriff  from  taking  a  pop  at  the  two  men,  he  cried 
out  to  him  to  dash  on  to  Big  River  Mills  for  more 
men,  which  he  did  and  soon  returned. 

The  Colonel  remained  on  the  ground  and  was 
master  of  the  field,  but  his  horse  was  slightly 
wounded  by  a  shot  nearly  perpendicular,  which 
might  have  been  made  by  himself.  The  horse,  how 
ever,  not  understanding  the  matter  thoroughly, 
threw  his  master  high  in  the  air;  but  luckily  the 
Colonel  came  down  head  foremost,  and  striking  on  a 
rock  he  received  no  injury  except  a  ringing  in  his 
head  like  the  rattling  of  a  cow-bell. 

He  dispatched  one  of  his  men  to  Irondale  to  tele 
graph  to  the  authorities  at  St.  Louis  the  astounding 
intelligence  that  at  the  Brick  Church,  Col.  Bowen 
had  encountered  the  irrepressible  "Sam  Hildebrand" 
and  his  band  of  out-laws  ;  that  his  horse  had  been 
shot  from  under  him,  but  that  single-handed  he  had 


310  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

driven  the  enemy  from  the  field,  and  only  received 
a  slight  wound.  This  Don  Quixote  campaign  against 
me  terminated  in  a  spree,  and  the  Colonel  returned 
to  St.  Louis. 

Previous  to  this,  however,  by  Col.  Bowen's  orders, 
my  wife  and  children  were  removed,  first  to  Iron- 
dale  and  then  to  Farmington  ;  they  remained  at  the 
latter  place  under  the  supervision  of  the  sheriff  for 
a  month.  They  were  kindly  treated,  but  my  wife 
was  anxious  to  escape  from  the  ceaseless  annoyance 
of  Bowen's  military  operations. 

On  a  certain  night  a  friend  of  mine  from  Illinois, 
named  Crittenden,  proceeded  into  Farmington  with 
a  light  wagon,  and  before  the  break  of  day  my  wife 
and  family  were  in  -Ste.  Genevieve  county,  on  their 
way  to  Illinois.  They  stopped  for  breakfast  at  a 
house  by  the  roadside,  and  by  a  strange  coincidence 
it  proved  to  be  the  house  of  the  late  James  Mc- 
Laine.  The  widow,  not  knowing  the  party,  made 
them  very  welcome,  and  in  apologizing  for  her 
straitened  circumstances,  observed:  UI  am  now  left 
a  destitute  widow,  and  all  these  poor  little  children 
of  mine  are  left  orphans,  by  the  hand  of  Sam  Hilde- 
brand." 

Mrs.  McLaine's  father,  George  Shumate  was  pres 
ent,  and  while  the  good  woman  was  preparing 
breakfast,  he  addressed  himself  to  Crittenden,  and 
gave  a  terrible  account  of  my  desperate  deeds. 

After  breakfast  the  party  arose  to  continue  their 
journey;  the  widow  would  have  nothing  for  her 


SAMUEL   S.   HILDEBRAND.  311 

trouble.    My  wife,  taking  Mrs.  McLaine  kindly  by 
the  hand,  said : 

"  Mrs.  McLaine,  I  am  sorry  for  you— truly  sorry 
for  you  and  your  dear  little  children ;  sorry  for  the 
many  hardships  you  have  had  to  encounter.  I 
know  how  to  sympathize  with  you,  for  I  am  a  widow 
myself." 

44  You  a  widow?" 

"  Yes,  Mrs.  McLaine ;  I  am  worse  than  a  widow — 
I  am  the  wife  of  Sam  Hildebrand ! " 

The  good  woman  stood  amazed  and  said  nothing; 
but  the  look  that  Mr.  Shumate  gave  Crittenden  was 
truly  comical :  he  drew  up  his  neck,  threw  his  head 
a  little  back,  and  exclaimed : 

-"  Well— my— God  !  and  you  are  not  Sam  Hilde 
brand — are  you  ? " 

"Oh,  no  sir!  I  am  not;  but  his  wife  here  is  my 
cousin." 

They  continued  on  to  Illinois,  and  as  soon  as  all 
military  operations  against  me  in  Missouri  had  sub 
sided,  I  left  the  State;  and  since  that  time  I  have 
been  wandering  through  the  Southern  States  as  a 
peaceable  citizen. 

The  Governor's  reward  against  me,  of  course,  is 
still  unrepealed  ;  and  I  hope  that  it  will  be  chiseled 
into  one  of  the  pillars  of  the  State  Capitol,  that  it 
may  be  handed  down  to  posterity  in  the  same  cate 
gory  with  two  rewards  offered  during  the  last  gene 
ration — one  for  a  feasible  northwest  passage,  and 
the  other  for  the  invention  of  perpetual  motion. 

Let  the  legend  pass  down  the  corridors  of  time  to 


312  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

the  latest  generation,  that  the  strange  flickering 
light  sometimes  seen  at  night  in  the  dreary  low 
lands  of  the  South  is  none  other  than  "  Jack  with 
his  lantern"  trying  to  get  the  reward  by  finding 
Sam  Hildebrand. 

If  the  strange  hallucination  should  ever  enter  the 
mind  of  a  man  that  I  could  be  captured,  let  him 
immediately  send  for  a  physician,  have  his  head 
emptied  and  filled  up  with  clabber  to  give  him  a 
better  set  of  brains. 

All  fighting  between  "Uncle  Sam"  and  myself 
has  ceased  long  ago.  He  came  out  of  the  war  un- 
conquered — and  so  did  I. 

It  will  be  a  long  time,  however,  before  he  gets 
entirely  over  the  effects  of  our  fight.  I  am  h^le, 
and  have  the  free  use  of  my  limbs;  but  his  southern 
arm  is  paralyzed,  he  is  terribly  in  debt,  can  only 
see  out  of  one  eye,  and  his  constitution  is  broken; 
he  has  the  KuKlux  nightmare,  the  Salt  Lake  cancer; 
the  African  leprosy,  the  Fenian  rickets,  the  bond 
holder's  cramp,  and  the  Congressional  blind  stag 
gers.  The  war  left  me  out  of  debt;  with  a  good 
horse,  and  forty  dollars  in  cash. 

As  several  proclamations  have  been  issued  against 
me,  without  ever  eliciting  one  in  return,  I  shall  now 
swing  my  hat  and  proclaim : 

"  Peace  and  good  will  to  all  men  ;  a  general  am 
nesty  toward  the  United  States,  and  to  'Uncle  Sam' 
— so  long  as  the  said  Uncle  Sam  shall  behave  him 
self." 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 
LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


v/b80S 

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REG'D  LO 

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INTER-LIBRAR1 

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LOAN 

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MAR  6     1970 

DCY'lt        .a 

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AUTO  DISC. 

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3 

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